I read through “The Rational Male” by Rollo Tomassi, half because of curiosity about the so-called “Godfather of the Manosphere,” and half because I wanted to understand Redpill enough to properly critique it.

There’s so much wrong with Tomassi’s book, but one premise that really stood out to me was “Tomassi’s Iron Rule #6” (Chapter 9, Part 2).

Men believe that love matters for the sake of it. Women love opportunistically.

Out of all the redpill’s not-so-subtle attempts to dehumanize women, this is one of the most dangerous, I think. It’s saying that men and women disagree at a fundamental level on the purpose of a relationship. It attempts to paint men as poor, innocent victims who just want love, while painting women as cartoon-evil villains who use love to their advantage. Even if you believe that every relationship is transactional, you have to admit that this is a pretty concerning worldview. If one accepts this cynical, sexist “rule” of love and relationships, then many of their misogynistic talking points about “hypergamy” follow from it.

I think it is pretty self-evident that men and women are more or less on the same page, when it comes to love. Every healthy relationship I know tells me so. To me, Tomassi’s sixth “Iron Rule” is proof that the whole redpill concept of “hypergamy” is a ruse. It’s at best an excuse to be a sexist jerk, and at worst a dog-whistle for “I want to take away women’s agency in dating, because they are too picky and men know what’s best!”

This is more evident when you consider Tomassi’s overall tone and manipulative language throughout the book. He repeatedly uses loaded terms like “feminine imperative” to try to sway readers to a particular view, while hiding behind the fig leaf of “just speaking facts, not trying to impose a moral framework.” Tomassi, tell me that you want to take away women’s economic freedom without telling me…

(I realize that this is a very old book, and I’m preaching to the choir here. Just something horrifying about redpill I haven’t heard before and wanted to share.)