AWALT All Women Are Like That

“Not all grenades are like that!”

Tom Leykis reads from a submission from a listener who heard his fiancee repeatedly declared she was “not the kind of person” who would ever rake him over the coals in a divorce. But after having been driven to bankruptcy, he now believes any woman who would say she is not like that is, in fact, EXACTLY like that. No man is exempt from a woman taking her pound of flesh.

“Not All Women Are Like That” (NAWALT) is a true statement. However, the rewards for believing “ALL women are like that” (AWALT) are far greater than anything a woman will reward you with for simply taking her word (NAWALT) at face value.

When a woman resorts to the tired deflection “Not All Women Are Like That”, she is attempting to deflect attention away from the very real actions of the female collective – and the legal system. She expects you to think in terms of the lowest common denominator, but it still does nothing to prove that SHE is “not like that”. No man can afford to be naive about this, however, few men are readily armed with a retort.

Other arguments may include:
• “You just need to pick the right woman”
• or “You’re just looking in the wrong places”

Such arguments are intended to manipulate you into thinking your non-desire to participate in such a silly game are YOUR inherent problem.

This is when you can use the hand grenade analogy.

Ask her to imagine you presenting her with a box of hand grenades. You tell her “Don’t worry. Not all of hand grenades will explode in your face. Some of them are duds.”. You tell her to pick one and pull the pin. When she hesitates, you ask: “What’s wrong? Go ahead!! Pick one and pull the pin! Not all hand grenades are like that!! You just need to pick the right one!!”.

No reasonable person would pull the pin, because it clearly fails a cost/benefit analysis. Even if the grenade doesn’t explode, the BEST thing that happens is: you don’t die. This is not a positive. Not dying does not justify gambling with your life.

This reveals “NAWALT” as a ridiculous argument and no more than a cheap manipulation tactic. She wouldn’t fall for it herself, so she must either think you are intensely stupid, or she is intensely stupid herself. There is simply no reward (or benefit) in believing “not all grenades are like that”.