People are naturally wired to increase gain and decrease loss in all endeavors. This rule holds true for sexual relationships, which in theory are supposed to be egalitarian but in reality are not exempt from human nature. Whether consciously or not, each partner seeks maximal benefit from the other while trying to minimize the expenditure required to maintain the relationship. The Relationship Game is played in all types of relationships from hookups to marriage and is the primary source of conflict between partners.

How It's Played: The game is played by offering/throttling access to sex, commitment, goods or services in exchange for some kind of benefit. You should buy me a drink is a way for a person to obtain a $14 good in exchange for an (unreliable) promise of a chance of initiating future relations. Can you get the cab fair is the throttling of the potential for intimate relations in exchange for a service. The game is also played further up the commitment spectrum. Honey how come we never X and What are we? are moves used to secure additional commitment/resources from a partner. I just want to have fun with the girls is an attempt to minimize investment. There are many other examples of the game but those are some of the more common.

Tactics: There are different strategies, but the game is always the same.

  • Ultimatum/Nuclear: Is the threat of termination of the relationship in used as a means of obtaining some kind of benefit. This is by far the most powerful barging tactic, however it is also the most dangerous and can only be used sparingly. President of France Charles de Gaulle repeatedly threatened abdication if his changes to the constitution were not ratified. People got tired of him and his demands and he resigned.

  • Guilt: The use of intangibles is another powerful tactic in the Relationship Game. Honey if you love me you would X. Love is an ambiguous concept that is intentionally difficult to define. Any rebuttal concerning the meaning of love is immediately met with shaming tactics. Playing the victim and emotional manipulation are also popular. Honey when you get so upset/say these things I feel like X. By assuming the role of a victim a person tries to establish a right to some benefit. That right however, is arbitrary and contrived.

  • Meta: Many competitions have a complex meta games involving intimidation, fan participation and manipulation of opponent's expectations, the Relationship Game is no different. Denying the existence of the Relationship Game is a potent meta tactic. Happy Wife Happy Life. The Woman is always right and the antiquated A wife's role is X, are all examples of denial of the existence of the game and serve as calls for unconditional surrender. If your opponent doesn't know he's playing he won't have the opportunity to play.

Feminism Red Pill and The Game.

  • Feminism: While first wave feminism was about giving women access to civil rights, second and third wave had a powerful influence on the Game. Second wave Feminism created no fault divorce and strengthened alimony and child support laws. This had the effect of not only increasing women's access to the Nuclear option but also greatly decreasing the cost of using it. Third Wave feminism isn't so much a push for legal change as a cultural movement. Third wave feminism seeks to adjust the starting conditions of the Game to favor women. Strong Independent Woman and Fat Acceptance are both justifications for women bringing less commitment to the game by default. All Men are Rapists, 1 in 4 and Real Men X are all tactics aimed at shaming men into give more commitment by default. A side effect of Feminism is that it can make the game not worth playing for men, especially at higher levels of commitment and at lower levels of proficiency.

  • Red Pill: In contrast, the Red Pill ideology does not seek to control female behavior. The Red Pill is not the dominant cultural paradigm and doesn't have the power or legitimacy to effectively influence female behavior. Red Pill informs men of the existence of the Game and how to play it. It describes different patterns that emerge within the game such as Alpha Fuck Beta Bucks. Finally, it tells men to improve themselves so that they can optimize their starting position within the game. Feminists are hostile toward Red Pill because it undermines female advantage within the Game.