15 Manipulation Tricks That Men Still Haven't Cracked

Women tend to be a mystery - it's part of our charm, our allure. But it can also be infuriating to men who seem to believe that we're an uncrackable code of sorts. It's like it never crossed their minds to ask us exactly what we think, to attempt to crack the impossible themselves. And until they do this, we females are able to get away with a slew of manipulations tactics that can perplex and confuse them to no end. It proves to be especially difficult for dudes who are in a relationship with a woman who has more than a few tricks up her sleeve.

While being in a relationship itself can often prove confusing to both parties in the honeymoon phase when you're just starting to get to know each other on a more intimate level, it's usually the woman who pays close attention to her partner out of admiration. But when she does pay close attention, she takes more than a few knowledgeable factoids away that she's able to use to have the upper hand during a spat or two. While this can be considered rude to the guy, it can also be considered awe-inspiring because they still have yet to figure out how she's able to not only get away with these things but how she's able to make HIM feel bad in the process.

15 Flaunting Your Stuff On Social Media To Assert Your Independence And Worth

We're women - we know we have a particular feminine power when it comes to our looks. And we know we can use it to get our way in certain situations, I mean, it's been that way since pretty much the dawn of man. But now? Now we have social media. It's an old trick with a new spin that women know and we tend to use it whenever we wish to have a man do whatever sort of bidding we choose. If we feel good and look good - guess what, we want the world to know. Men know this, but they have yet to actually completely understand it, especially in the age of Instagram. While this is probably the most aesthetic thing on this list, it certainly happens to be probably the easiest as well.

14 Marking Your Territory With Your Own Stuff

We all noticed this in that Kate Hudson movie How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days when her character used this certain tool on Matthew McConaughey's character in an attempt to scare him away: she stocked his bathroom medicine cabinet with her own feminine products and even started redecorating his apartment a little bit with her own stuff. IT FREAKS THEM THE ABSOLUTE HECK OUT. At least it does if a girl tends to do this right in the salad days of a new relationship. However, if they do this subtlety, it tends to be overlooked by the guy at first. Suddenly, they find themselves actually getting used to the little items she's “accidentally” leaving at his place until they've actually become normal sighting and he's no longer asking why he's stumbling upon your hair dryer in his bathroom.

13 Delaying Response To His Texts

This is usually a mind game that men enjoy playing with women in the first stages of a relationship if they're common game players. It's not an appealing tactic to do in the beginning since the man is supposed to be proving that he's NOT a game player in order to land the girl. But, alas, they still do it. So women tend to adopt this move themselves later down the line when she's actually in a relationship with the said man. If he's done something to upset her, she'll use the “delayed response” move when it comes to text messaging. This is especially perplexing to the guy if he's used to his girlfriend/wife texting back right away. Throws them off horribly and they'll start sending novel-like text messages in order to get her attention back.

12 Withholding Affection As A Conditioning Method

This only really applies to women who are the love-dovey sort of girl (not all of us our, so dudes might want to look out for the opposite when it comes to their girl if she's relatively indifferent to affection). Usually, if she's upset about something, she'll tend to shy away from being affectionate toward her guy, which can throw him for a loop. And if it's even harsher if the woman is acting like everything is normal and goes about her day as usual, but just with less PDA. He doesn't really catch on to this at first, especially if she doesn't highlight it herself, but even the most aloof guy will catch on eventually and end up twisting his brain into knots in order to figure out what he did wrong.

11 CODE RED: SHE'S CRYING

We all know this: Women crying scare the freaking hair off of a “not-so-strong” dude. They don't know how to handle it, especially if they're not comforters themselves. And yes, there are some when who use this to their advantage. Why do you think some of us are always able to get out of speeding tickets? LADIES, IT SCARES THE BEJEEZUS OUT OF DUDES. And guys know this, which is why some of them act indifferent when we turn on the waterworks. However, others do not and don't really know how to handle it when a woman cries, and when it comes to these men, this particular manipulation actually works and he really doesn't know what hit him. But this particular trick should only be released for special occurrences… unless you happen to be really good at fake crying. If so, then release those salty tears, woman.

10 Feeding His Ego With Excessive Complimenting

Whether they're not right up front with it like some men, a majority of dudes tend to have an ego, but women usually have to do some digging to discover where exactly the ego lies. With some men, it's with their looks, with others it's with their brains, and with certain men, their egos fall within a particular skill set they have. No matter where his ego falls on the scale, all women know how to feed it successfully if they're attempting to manipulate him. Complementing a man's ego at a bizarre time can throw a guy off completely, even more so than crying at times. Some men don't really know how to take it so tend to be more appreciative than usual. It's like they don't even know what hits them when it comes to this one.

9 Shutting Down Completely By Using The Silent Treatment

No one likes a ticking time bomb. Unless you're the bomb squad, and even they don't like dealing with ticking time bombs - it's just their job. But you know what's actually more dangerous than a bomb? A woman about ready to be set off. That's right if you think actual live ammunition is dangerous, wait until you come across a woman who is giving you the silent treatment. This is an actual frightening maneuver women use in order to manipulate men because it causes them to tip-toe around her while reevaluating all his life choices. And while he's walking on eggshells, she's given a front row ticket to the most amusing show in town. As he wracks his brain, trying to figure out where and when it went south, she doesn't have to say a single word.

8 Acting Like An Idiot To Make Him Think He's Got The 1-Up

Personally, I hate this one. I don't think a woman should act like a moron under any circumstances when it comes to manipulating men because it's putting ourselves down in the process. It's foolish. But, sigh, some men actually fall for this get-up. If a woman feigns ignorance at something in order to manipulate a man, he's actually the bigger fool for falling for it and tripping into her trap. For a brief while, if a woman pulls this, the man suddenly feels like the more intelligent out of the two and it gives him a mini high. However, the high usually doesn't last that long - especially if the woman is intelligent, so it will be more like a sugar rush. And we all know what happens after a sugar rush - the inevitable sugar crash. And those are never fun.

7 Pretending To Be Helpless So He Can Be The Knight In Shining Armor

Sure, this tends to feed the “White Knight” complex that some men have. If a man is dating a strong woman, sometimes he forgets what's it's like to feel really needed in a sense. And trust us, strong woman don't like playing that ace up their sleeve and only whip it out in a moment of desperation. But it's when a strong women does this - watch out. Men tend to eat this up because it makes them feel like, well, a man. Especially in this day and age where women are taking over the world pretty much (you're welcome, planet earth) and not standing for any crap whatsoever when it comes to the patriarchy. So when this move is played, a boyfriend will run to the rescue (and most won't even care that it's simply a ploy).

6 Yes, You Should Let Him Get The Last Word (Or So He Thinks)

What I've come to realize that when it comes to all the men I date, they seem to certainly enjoy having the last word. This is an annoying habit when it comes to ANY gender (since I have girlfriends that do the same thing too), but it's especially difficult when two people in a relationship happen to be “last word” freaks. It just means that the argument never ends and is a constant loop of pure and utter nonsense like an endless ping-pong game. But you know what really drives a guy crazy? When a last-word woman happens to “allow” the guy to have the last word in an argument, that's what sends him over the edge with confusion. And you know when this occurs, he's going to dwell on it while you sit back and smile at his confused reverie.

5 “I'm Fine” - He'll Crack Every Time

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE DEATH SENTENCE AND IF A GUY HEARS IT, HE SHOULD TURN AROUND AND RUN FOR THE HILLS. No, seriously - how do men not know this yet? And the ones who do should absolutely know that the woman in question is not “fine,” especially if she seems far from okay. Men, if you're with a woman long enough, and you're observant, you understand her moods and the faces that go along with her moods. If she seems irritated and it reads all over her face, she is in fact, not fine. Which means you're in trouble and/or you should investigate the situation a little bit deeper. Now, ladies, this can also be used as a manipulation tactic, but it should be handled with kid gloves because you might overshoot your shot on this one if used incorrectly. Be warned.

4 Sudden Affection Towards Him Can Melt Any Issues Away Or Encourage Good Behavior

If a woman wants to manipulate a man, it's known that she can attract more bees with honey thus, the “sudden affection” manipulation move. This can tend to be a double edge sword though if the woman in question doesn't tend to be the affectionate type. But, sometimes, if she is and she turns on the affection in order to get what she wants, the man won't really stop to ponder “what is she up to?” He'll just run with it. Plus, it encourages good behavior on his part. If the woman is an affectionate girlfriend, she either turn it up a notch or switch tactics and attempt another method of affection that her guy isn't used to, which will intrigue him even more. This sweet tool can also render a poor man helpless in our wake.

3 Flirting With Other Guys In Front Of Him

Okay, I'm not too prone on this one, basically because it can do more harm than good - depending on how a woman's boyfriend acts. Usually, if a woman wants to get a man's attention, she likes to show him how attractive she is to OTHER men. Most men don't know it, but they do tend to covet a woman that a lot of men are attracted to. It's the competitive nature in them. So when a woman flirts with another man in her guy's (or the guy she really wants) presence, their ears perk up and they take a heavy notice. They don't want some other guy to reach the finish line with her, so they'll do what they can in order to avoid that, including making the first move themselves.

2 Bringing Up Past Arguments For Extra Drama

We women never forget anything - remember that. And some men have witnessed this first hand when in the middle of a present argument, suddenly an argument from literally five years before will be brought up. “Remember that one time you forgot to pick up eggs at the store? Remember that one time when you said my parents couldn't stay with us for Christmas? Remember when you lied about having the flu? Remember that one time you looked at me weird?” That's right, all these come flying back at a man ten-fold when it comes to women and bringing up the past in order to meddle with the present. Yes, we will do anything to win an argument, even bring up what was long considered dead and buried.

1 Whining - Oh God, The Whining

We've all heard this one before and/or have been called this at one point in our lives: a nag. Or we've heard the words “why are you nagging me about this?” come out of a man who we happen to be speaking with. When these words are uttered, women actually aren't “nagging” in the least - we're just talking and the dude happens to be in a bad mood so he uses this word as a go-to in order to quiet someone down. Usually, it works. But if he drops it and we aren't in the mood to hear it, we actually turn into a nag and whine our heads off. ONLY THEN will he begin to understand what that word really means and what's behind it. And yes, he'll be deeply sorry.