Being a Pick Up Artist (PUA) is not just about delivering a one-liner in a bar to a hot girl. That will only get you a slap in the face. It works like that in the movies and in real life. PUAs — or members of the seduction community — actually have weekly meetings in local groups called “lairs”, share stories online on forums and post and comment on blogs detailing their successes and failures with women. The movement was started by Ross Jeffries back in the ’90s, who promoted a series of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) techniques that he termed “speed seduction”. The idea is to make yourself attractive to women by employing courtship techniques that could be compared to animal subroutines that we evolved with. The literature behind the movement draws a lot of its argumentation from evolutionary psychology and sociobiology.

OK, so how does it work?

Now that your attention has been grabbed, let’s analyze how the whole PUA thing works. The goal of a “speed seducer” is to achieve success with women through scientific and empirical means, instead of relying on good looks or intuition. PUAs even reject normal social courtship conventions and ridicule the whole “dating” scene, popularized by Jerry Seinfeld on his show in the ’80s and ’90s. Instead, a man practicing seduction will assume that women are naturally passive and will not initiate contact — thus forcing men to be the ones who have to approach them. Some members of the community will make literally hundreds of these approaches every day, in order to practice their moves.

Additionally, PUAs completely reject the notion that to be successful with a woman, you have to spoil them with gifts and flowers. In fact, they teach that this is “supplication” and does not befit an “alpha male”. Pick Up Artists do not just work alone either; sometimes they bring a best friend from their group who will observe the interchanges and then afterward comment and rate the approach. This second dude is known as a “wingman”.

Does it really work?

From the amount of blogs, websites, e-books, DVDs and CDs available, and the media interest generated by Strauss’s book on the topic called The Game, there is some grain of truth to the whole ideology. However, it is not without controversy. Obviously this kind of approach to women can be construed as sexist by some and downright misogynist by others.

That is why members of the movement and its leading authors and thinkers stress that this is not so much about a “system” that will “guarantee scoring with a woman”, but that it is more about a method that men can use to restore self-confidence and boost their ego, so they have an easier time socializing and being around women in the first place.

Apparently, “speed seduction” routines will also help Pick Up Artists overcome difficulties not only with their social skills, but it will give them the confidence to improve their outer appearance as well, such as physical fitness, fashion sense and grooming.