Preface Flashcards
Who initially invented seduction?
Women
What is the first step to how those initial seductresses go about seducing?
First, they would draw a man in with an alluring appearance, designing their makeup and adornment to fashion the image of a goddess come to life.
What is the second step to how those initial seductresses go about seducing?
By showing only glimpses of flesh, they would tease a man’s imagination, stimulating the desire not just for sex but for something greater: the chance to possess a fantasy figure.
What is the third step to how those initial seductresses go about seducing?
Once they had their victim’s interest, these women would lure them away from the masculine world of war and politics and get them to spend time in the feminine world - a world of luxury, spectacle, and pleasure. Men would grow hooked on these refined, sensual pleasures - they would fall in love.
What is the fourth step to how those initial seductresses go about seducing?
Invariably the women would turn cold and indifferent, confusing their victims. Just when the men wanted more, they found their pleasures withdrawn. They would be forced into pursuit, trying anything to win back the favors they had once tasted and growing weak and emotional in the process.
In the face of violence and brutality, how would these initial seductresses make seduction a sophisticated art, the ultimate form of power and persuasion?
They learned to work on the mind first, stimulating fantasies, keeping a man wanting more, creating patterns of hope and despair - the essence of seduction.
In the face of violence and brutality, these initial seductresses made seduction a sophisticated art, the ultimate form of power and persuasion. How or why is it sophisticated?
Their power was not physical but psychological, not forceful but indirect and cunning. These first great seductresses were like military generals planning the destruction of an enemy.
How did men eventually grow interested in seduction as a way to overcome a young woman’s resistance to sex?
They learned to dazzle with their appearance (often androgynous in nature), to stimulate the imagination, to play the coquette.
How did the men who eventually grew interested in seduction as a way to overcome a young woman’s resistance to sex also add a new, masculine element to the game?
They created seductive language, for they had discovered a woman’s weakness for soft words.
How did the male entrance to the female art of seduction enhance it for both parties?
The two forms of seduction - the feminine use of appearance and the masculine use of language - would often cross gender lines.
Who else adapted the art of seduction?
At the same time that men were developing their version of seduction, others began to adapt the art for social purposes.
Why did some begin to adapt the art of seduction for social purposes.
Courtiers needed to get their way in court without the use of force. They learned the power to be gained by seducing their superiors and competitors through psychological games, soft words, a little coquetry.
Other than sexual and court-life purposes, who else adapted seductive characteristics?
As culture became democratized, actors, dandies, and artists came to use the tactics of seduction as a way to charm and win over their audience and social milieu.
Other than actors, dandies, and artists, who else used seduction on a social level?
Politicians saw themselves as seducers, on a grand scale.
How did politicians use seduction on a social level?
These men depended on the art of seductive oratory, but they also mastered what had once been feminine strategies: staging vast spectacles, using theatrical devices, creating a charged physical presence. All this, they learned, was the essence of charisma.
Why did politicians resort to seduction?
By seducing the masses they could accumulate immense power without the use of force.
Why is it that today we have reached the ultimate point in the evolution of seduction?
Now more than ever, force or brutality of any kind is discouraged. All areas of social life require the ability to persuade people in a way that doesn’t offend or impose itself.
What is the essence of seduction ultimately?
If we are to change people’s opinions - and affecting opinion is basic to seduction - we must act in subtle, subliminal ways.
Even if much has changed socially in degree and scope, the essence of seduction is constant. Elaborate.
Never be forceful or direct; instead, use pleasure as bait, playing on people’s emotions, stirring desire and confusion, inducing psychological surrender.
Why is the subtlety of seduction so effective?
People are constantly trying to influence us, to tell us what to do, and just as often we tune them out, resisting their attempts at persuasion. There is a moment in our lives, however, when we all act differently - when we are in love.
