Well, it’s been a year now.
I started Rational Male on August 19th, 2011at the suggestion of so many patrons of SoSuave wanting me to collect my writings there into one cohesive section. My intent a year ago was simply to compile all I’d written into a blog and refine those posts, case studies and Iron Rules into more concise essays and allow easier access.
That was the easy part. I had so much material built up at SoSuave over the previous 9 years it just became a matter of picking which topic to focus on and develop it beyond what I could expect the average forum reader to have the attention span for. I’ve never kept a journal or anything, but as I sifted back through my forum posts – some of which were almost a decade old – I began to see how my perspective on things had evolved over the years. In some respects I suppose it’s how people who keep a diary go back and read how they used to be and what they thought at the time, only I found my 2011 self using that groundwork I had laid in 2002, and into the decade, as the basis for broader ideas in the now. I had the benefit of 8+ years of evolving my perspectives as the manosphere itself evolved.
On August 19th, 2011, I had no idea who a good 80% of the bloggers you see in my blog roll were, and that’s not mentioning the ones I read, or locked horns with, regularly who aren’t in that last. I had no idea who Dalrock was, or Krauser who I’d unknowingly inspired to so much insight. I knew Roissy before he adopted Heartiste and of course I was familiar with Roosh before I began blogging. I was welcomed by them as well as Ferdinand from the gone but not forgotten In Mala Fide. Before October of last year, I had no idea who Aunt Giggles was until she fired a shot across the bow at me in Wait For It?
It’s been kind of strange to be accounted as one of the three ‘R’s of the manosphere in less than a year. I passed the 1 Million views mark on August 16th and my traffic, while not comparable to the likes of the other R’s (or even Dalrock for that matter), grows exponentially each month. It seems like the blog’s a meteoric rise to manospheric celebrity, until I consider I’ve been writing ‘red pill’ material for almost a decade now.
I’ve been approached on several occasions to monetize Rational Male, but I’ve held off from that. I’d still ask readers to anonymously donate to my charity fund, but I will never monetize RM. That said, I am in the process of compiling the material here into a book I hope to publish in 2013. I’m still figuring out best practices for this, and distilling down 228 blog posts into concise chapter topics is a challenge to say the least. I don’t even have a working title for it yet, but I’ve decided to put in the effort because the most common request I get is for a publication of my material that other Men can use to help their plugged-in friends unplug.
There’s just something about having a book in your hands, or perhaps on an e-reader, that represents legitimacy for people that reading the same material or ideas online doesn’t. When I get linked to from Reddit as a reference for some guy attempting to help his friend unplug it’s almost always followed by a stream of troll posts or blithering AFC crabs in the barrel pulling him back into their Matrix conditioned group-comfort. I’ve had a significant number readers ask if I had a book they could just hand to their friends (sometimes their sons) so they could digest what I’ve compiled for so long.
And that’s one obstacle I see in my blogging: I have a library of posts on so many topics that it’s difficult (even for me) to specifically reference what might address the troubles of someone seeking individualized help. Like any blogger, I try to make things easier; I have the categories on the side bar, the standard search query, and I always make a point of cross linking to past articles to aid in referencing what I think people might find most useful.
However, it’s really hard to be everything to everyone. Personally I think some of my most relevant posts were published in the first few months of this blog going live, but the million-plus readers who’ve more recently become regulars here may have no idea about them. So as I’ve been reviewing the past year’s material for book publication I thought I’d post a ‘best of’ list for today’s post to make newer readers aware of topics that might address a particular issue they have questions about.
So without further ado, I give you,..
The Best of Rational Male – Year One
The Basics
- There is No ONE
- The Cardinal Rule of Relationships
- The Desire Dynamic
- Schedules of Mating
- Buffers
- Imagination
- Social Matching Theory
- Alpha
Plate Theory
Plugged-In
- Enter White Knight
- Average Frustrated Chump
- Playing Friends
- Letting Go of Invisible Friends (LDRs)
- The Honor System
Unplugging
- The 5 Stages of Unplugging
- The Bitter Taste of the Red Pill
- Dispelling the Magic
- Compensation
- Identity Crisis
- Dream Girls & Children with Dynamite
- Appreciation
- Kill the Beta
- Truth to Power
- Have A Look
Game
- Beta Game
- Rewriting the Rules
- The Pheromonal Beta
- Meta-Game
- Just Be Yourself
- Three Strikes
- Dread Games
- Navigating the SMV
Communication
- The Medium IS the Message
- Qualities of the Prince (my personal favorite of 2011)
- The Gift of Anxiety
- Just Get It
Social Conventions
Hypergamy
- The Disposables
- Mrs. Hyde
- The Hypergamy Conspiracy
- The Pet
- Hypergamy Doesn’t Care
- Relational Equity
- Women & Regret
Iron Rules of Tomassi
- Iron Rule #1
- Iron Rule #2
- Iron Rule #3
- Iron Rule #4
- Iron Rule #5
- Iron Rule #6
- Iron Rule #7
- Iron Rule #8
- Iron Rule #9
Mythology
- Myth of the Lonely Old Man
- Women & Sex
- Good Girls ‘Do’
- Myth of the Biological Clock
- Looks Count
- The SMV in Girl-World
The Feminine Imperative
- The Feminine Reality
- Fem-Centrism
- The Feminine Mystique
- War Brides
- The Tool of ASD
- Sexy
- The Threat
- Could a Man Have Written This?
If you have any other favorites that really spoke to you, but didn’t make my list, please link them and tell me how it helped.
Here’s to another great year of RM.
Happy birthday, Rollo. May there be many more.
Congrats on another milestone, Rollo. Thank you for all the time you put into organizing them. Just texted my son to let him know, it’s one that will need to be bookmarked for sure.(At least until the book comes out.)
Thanks Rollo!! I cannot wait for the book! Your Blog has really made a difference in my life. I started reading you at your beginning and have read everyone of your post.
Great stuff. Look forward to buying a few copies of your book. Hope you stick with photos for the beginning of each chapter as they work so well on the blog!
This is so helpful. I look forward to reading your book.
Congratulations !!!
I am sure the book will be a great success.Apart from all the game kowledge you roll out rollo(Heh !) I really love your writing style.I like the clarity with which you express.Feels like a science book with precise definitions and laid out guidelines.
Congratulations, Rollo. It’s well deserved.
way to frickin’ go Rollo! More power to ya!!!!!!!!!
Would it be possible for you to collate all the posts in a PDF or just make the HTML / website downloadable?
For me, “NEXT” was a damn useful article for my last breakup.
http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/next/
It has serious Inner Game dilluted within…
You had a great pic on one of your posts of a bunch of “bad-boy barbies” lines up to have their turn at a naked barbie who was bent over.
Which of your essays is that? I loved that picture.
Congrats Rollo
Great table of index
Congrats
“Someone’s gotta unplug chumps from the Matrix. Want to know what my problem is? My problem is living in a world teeming with grown boys who’ve become so conditioned to believing that anything remotely masculine is to be ridiculed, vilified and subdued until they have no concept of what it truly entails much less pass off even the possibility that it could be something positive and attractive. My problem is when a personal, AFC friend swallows a bullet because he literally “can’t live without” the girlfriend who left him. My problem is when a 65 y.o. AFC cries in my… Read more »
I would recommend yet:
http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/06/21/case-study-the-crazy/, http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/04/23/relationship-game-wife-sex/, http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/01/19/next/, http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2011/10/17/indignation/,
http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/there-is-no-one/
Rollo .. Again thank you for invaluable service to the manosphere.Its immense endurance and dedication to sustain ,the vast body of research for these 10 years for us.Once the book gets published ,I hope you will be doing the tour ,so I will have an oppurntunity for a signing and picture!I can forsee sales surpassing “50 shades”.
Great job Rollo on such a quick and successful rise in Red Pill Universe. Can’t wait for the book.
Congratulations Rollo! Great blog! You are on the top of my google reader. I think this post deserves a special place, so that it does not get lost with time.
“Here’s to another great year of RM.” Here Here, look forward to the book.
Great stuff Rollo, your blog has cemented itself among the ranks of roissy and roosh (multi-year veterans) in less than a year – looking forward to the book. it should be required reading for all guys. nothing like clear rational thinking to debunk the hamster, the AFC’s greatest stumbling block.
in the meantime, i remember coming across one of your posts about framing.. can’t find the link, but it was up there in terms of re-reads. it’s a recurring theme in the manosphere and the ultimate elixir to any shit-test.
good stuff, man. Since I used to be a major blogger, and had my book turned into a hard copy, I can help you. First, keep the complex verbiage to a minimum. That is not to say “dumb it down”, but you need to say things in a way that people of all academic levels can handle without glazing over and wandering off. Secondly, minimize redundant stuff. You’ll find that your topics overlap sometimes, and there may even be two or three pieces that would squish into one. Don’t be shy about the squish, just do it. It’s not a… Read more »
Your blog has helped me out a lot. I’ve read every post, and I hope the book situation works out well. I know plenty of Plug-ins who could really use such a book.
There is a lot I could say to you about the content you have given us. Much of it has helped me personally to gain a new sense of self esteem, a new awareness at how to filter the world, and a key way to avoid pain and to deal with what pain we receive in dealings with women. The past weeks in the 3 R blogs plus Dalrock, to me, have been momentous. Huge. The Republican convention is on right now and I could care less about it because I feel the war to define how we will live… Read more »
[…] been in action for 12 months and had over a million views. In response, he has made a page ‘The Best of Rational Male – Year One‘. Check it out, I’m going to spend a lot of time going through it. Share […]
To your first of many more great years to come, Rollo. Your blog posts and insights are always strong from SoSuave to Rational Male. All the best on the upcoming book. Your approach in the manosphere and Game is the perspective of a wise and learned man. It’s a refreshing take that sets you apart. Keep up the great work.
Good job Rollo. Also liked the Mr. Perfect post. Can’t wait for the book. Will be in my sons’ Christmas stockings. Gave them Bang and Frost’s book but the teaching never stops. One suggestion re: links to the book. Send one to Glenn Reynolds’ blog, Instapundit. It’s how I found Roissy and the rest of you guys. I think he is married to Dr. Helen, a red pill gal.
I wasnt really awake until I began understanding hypergamy. Thanks.
A Rational Male book would be amazing. I mean a physical book, not an e-reader. Something I can hold in my hand and keep on a shelf next to my other game-related literature. I understand how accomplishing this feels like a difficult challenge for you. Choosing how to organize the thing will probably be the biggest brain-fryer. .Human sexuality is so overwhelmingly complex. Where would you begin? Do you start in Africa, circa 10 million B.C,. in order that the blue pill boys may learn that the female libido is a product of Darwinian evolution and not social conditioning? Or… Read more »
Great stuff, Rollo. I’m glad I stumbled across this joint whenever it was that I stumbled across this joint. I’ve been a regular ever since, and will be going forward. Keep up all the great work.
Thank you sir,
I came across your blog back in February this year and you’ve been an inspiration ever since.
You’ve open my eyes to many issues & problems, some I had already noticed myself, but didn’t know if anyone else had noticed and even had the knowledge and evidence to back it up.
You’ve put me in the right mind-frame to deal with relationships in my life and I’ve started to noticed the benefits.
Keep up the great work and I hope you reach many other men like me.
Congrats. Yours and Heartiste are the only Manosphere blogs I’d actually recommend to guys.
Congratulations. And thanks. I don’t remember how, but by some quirk of fate I found your blog almost from the start, just a few months after taking the red pill. I read a lot of the manosphere blogs, but yours is by far the most consistently intellectually stimulating. And the only one I’ve recommended to unplugged guys, at least as a starting point. Great index, I’m sure I’ll go back and read some posts again (and for certain I’d buy your book.) Personally, I found “The Mature Man” very helpful, but maybe that’s just me — a 40-year old occasionally… Read more »
One more note: I just realized that your post “Final Exam — navigating the SMP” isn’t on your best of list: serious omission. This is a quintessential post, one I consider must-read and wish I’d been able to read when I was twenty.
[It’s linked in the last one on ‘Game’actually]
Your work humbles me and I can’t hate you for that. Keep at it.
Finest blog on the topic. You write with such authority that it’s surprising that it’s only been one year, and on second thought obvious that there must have been a rich history behind it.
http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/whats-your-problem/
For me it all started here. Perhaps this should be the preface to your book Rollo, so it dismisses the whole misconception about the purpose of your writing as said above.
“or Krauser who I’d unknowingly inspired to so much insight”
This is true. This is one of the few cutting-edge blogs out there, responsible for putting the manosphere ahead of commercial PUA material in moving Game forwards. So I’ll openly acknowledge my intellectual debt to you.
“putting the manosphere ahead of commercial PUA material in moving Game forwards.”
lol well I wouldn’t go that far. The Manosphere is still light-years behind PUA, but I would say that sites like Rollo’s are responsible for helping the Manosphere make massive leaps and strides toward catching up to PUA, which is an important thing. 🙂 it also presents PUA stuff in a more digestible format than PUA teaching, for guys who’ve just taken the red pill which is also important. It’s like the tutorial level in a videogame that makes a complicated game more accessible to the masses.
@yareally Which PUA things do you think are ahead of the manosphere? I don’t mean all the newbie pickup journey blogs or MRA sites. I mean, comparing the top PUA stuff against the top manosphere. Who is nearer the cutting edge right now…. RSD / Love Systems / PUA Training etc vs Rollo, Roissy, Roosh etc. I think PUA has mostly run it’s course and The Blueprint Decoded was the last major leap. The manosphere has specialised in the next big pioneering step… bringing sociology and deep social mapping into Game, grounding the work you do in-set into a sophisticated… Read more »
Rollo, I have 20 other blogs in my reader but seeing that you’ve put up a new post excites me the most! Your blog matches Roissy at his best. @krauserpua “The manosphere has specialised in the next big pioneering step… bringing sociology and deep social mapping into Game, grounding the work you do in-set into a sophisticated and nuanced worldview… this is hugely important for frame…” This is exactly it. I’ve been practicing game seriously for 8 mos (been reading random PUA shit for 3-4 years)—reading Rollo and a few other sites plus going out for the past 3 months… Read more »
One more article of yours.
People defend their psyche against fact that live can really be like that but the more it should be shown.
Everyone who experienced this track will admit it fully.
http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/whats-your-problem/
[…] Male – Girls Night Out, Year One, Girls On The […]
Ive been reading you for a few months, but never even commented on a post despite how valuable they have been to my unplugging since December.
Congrats Rollo! Look forward to your book, we all owe you more than we could ever give.
Thank you for all your work, Rollo. It is appreciated. I would say that you have opened my eyes, but saying that you have changed my “life gears” is closer to the truth.
I knew something was wrong but could never identify it. Your writing is medicine. It is my antidote. I will buy your book.
Greetings from Eastern Europe. Here is to another year.
I’m still figuring out best practices for this, and distilling down 228 blog posts into concise chapter topics is a challenge to say the least.
I’ve heard good things about using Devonthink to organize research notes / ideas into a book.
“Which PUA things do you think are ahead of the manosphere?” Well, let’s look at the last 5 posts of Rollo and the last 5 of Heartiste: Rollo: Women Studies – (women oblivious/denying hypergamy, this is just PUA’s Anti-Slut Defense and Tyler’s Secret Society concepts reworded) Play Nice – (“nice guys” being fake, this is just Jeffy’s “Surprise, I have a penis” concept, but the notion of nice guys not being attractive because they’re hiding their true intentions goes back waaaaay into early PUA stuff, I’m too lazy to search it out and fastseduction.com where articles about that are probably… Read more »
[…] http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/year-one/ – “Year One” – Rolo Tomassi. Rolo, gets up in your ass with this one. It’s a compilation of some his best posts of his first year in the manosphere. […]
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into
any issues of plagorism or copyright violation? My website has a lot of unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any ways to help protect against content from being stolen? I’d truly appreciate it.
Reblogged this on Aussie and commented:
Best of Rollo’s
[…] has posted a structured index on his year one blog posts here. Its a good aid to quickly go through one of the most prolific authors on contemporary […]
[…] http://rationalmale.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/year-one/ […]
[…] for sorting out mindsets. Offcourse use critical thinking to assimilate the information. Year One | Recognise and accept Hypergamy. Recognise and accept the libido difference between men and women […]
While reading TheRedPill subreddit earlier this year, some one post a link to this particular page, after reading it (skipping the plate theory section) I went back and read your post from the one. Yesterday I finish Girl Night Out and upon clicking Next, here I am again on the same page I started on the last day of the year, what a coincidence 😀 Reason I skipped the plate theory section is because Islam already handle that by allowing one to have 4 wives, even though I didn’t plan on having 4 wives I think I got the idea… Read more »