Girls never make the first move. It's an unwritten rule of dating.
But in her self-help book, Screw Cupid: The Sassy Girl's Guide to Picking Up Hot Guys, author Samantha Scholfield aims to change that misconception. Her advice is mostly common sense and simplifies the reality of men and relationships, but this book regardless edges girls toward putting love into their own hands.
Scholfield opens by relating her own dating disasters, starting at high school and continuing through college. It's cringe-worthy stuff anyone can identify with, including public rejection for a Sadie Hawkins dance and failing to get a "hot guy" with the old "using a dog" method. Explaining her mishaps in a conversational tone, she establishes common ground with the reader, laying a foundation for the advice in following chapters.
Essentially, Scholfield's steps for snagging hot guys are as follows: Start small talk, segue into a broader conversation and plan a date. In short, she says nothing revolutionary. Scholfield belabors this advice, so anyone searching for silver bullets won't find them here.
But for shyer girls, these steps can offer plenty of guidance. The book emphasizes the use of "neutral openers," or questions meant to initiate conversations while keeping a girl's true motives hidden. Some examples include, "How come guys grunt at the gym?" or "Do guys think that Angelina Jolie is hot?"
Most guys would see through this ruse. Still, it would work on most of them: Guys are generally nice, and they'll gladly hold conversations with confident girls, especially if the girls are hitting on them. Tailoring these neutral openers for their own needs, girls have an honest shot at landing connections with their target guys.
At the same time, Scholfield reiterates these macho-man questions to the point of exhaustion. By the end, the impression is women can only communicate with guys by bringing up beer or James Bond. This two-dimensional image of men is funny and cute, but not at all accurate.
The book encourages girls to meet the most guys possible -- up to 10 of them a night -- to weed out the incompatible ones. However, this only works on the surface. Relationships that initially "click" often end as flings, and she ignores that the best relationships take real effort.
When not taken too seriously, Screw Cupid offers decent advice and an entertaining read, even if it simplifies reality. Its light-hearted use of stereotypes encourages a simplified view of men, and it perpetuates the notion of instant gratification. Ultimately, though, it encourages female independence, which is totally admirable in and of itself.
Grade: B-
