A well-meaning friend of mine suggested that I read The Rules. I had heard of the book and was pretty sure it wasn't my thing, but since I value her opinion, I went to have a look at the website anyway.
It's awful. Even a Rules mantra as superficially "empowering" as "I am a creature unlike any other" is harmful in both (a) its presupposition that I need any assurance of my own uniqueness, and (b) its sexist implication that men, on the other hand, are all alike. In fact, that's what the Rules amount to, in my mind: Here is how all men are -- yep, all of 'em -- and here is how you exploit it.
Um, I think they forgot a really important rule. It's called "do unto others". If I ever found out someone was basing their interactions with me on some set of bogus, arbitrary, and sexist "rules", I'd be gone so fast, my feet wouldn't touch the floor.
