People who harbor bad intentions while appearing genuine are the worst people to deal with. You never know what they’re up to and usually when you do, it’s too late.

The worst part is that their actions are so subtle, that it takes a lot of scrutiny to identify that something’s off with what they’re doing.

Some women are skilled in this art of manipulation, where they will use strategic yet subtle means to get the other person to do what they want them to do.

The other person is none the wiser, and she goes off scot-free.

Well, today, we will reveal 7 common behaviors of manipulative women who appear genuine on the outside and hopefully, you will identify their sinister intentions before they convince you to do their bidding. 

1) They compliment strategically

Who doesn’t like to be complimented? Most people enjoy hearing good things said about themselves and usually, in front of a group of people, to strengthen their standing within a community.

And these women fully understand this. As such, they use this to their advantage.

They will flatter strategically but not excessively, to show that they are genuine in their words. However, behind their empty praises, they’re hoping to win you over, so that they can use you to their advantage.

Whether it’s to convince you to help them with an assigned task, take their side in an argument, or use you to get closer to someone else – take their words with a pinch of salt.

However, this may be hard to catch, so it’s good to be wary if this isn’t their usual behavior. 

Another subtle behavior they will exhibit is…

2) They’re passive-aggressive

Passive-aggressiveness is another key way for these women to manipulate you. And they can do it expertly.

I knew a supervisor who used passive aggressiveness as a weapon to get everyone around her to do what she wanted.

If you disagreed with her, she would come up with the most sarcastic responses to emails, and give backhanded compliments until you felt so bad that you’d change your mind and agree with her instead.

If she made a mistake, she knew how to twist the narrative to make you feel sorry for her, instead of confronting her about the issue or blaming her. 

She also knew how to give people the cold shoulder and guilt trip you into offering her help – even though you don’t need to. 

The worst part is that it’s only after this happened quite a few times that I got to learn about this bad habit of hers, and how she managed to do this so well that I thought all her interactions with me were genuine.

3) They gaslight you

Another similar tactic to passive-aggressiveness is gaslighting.

Manipulative women are great with words and know how to use them to their advantage.

If the situation is working against them, these women will try their best to distort facts and cause people around them to doubt their own experiences or memories.

They will do this so subtly and skillfully that the people around them will end up undermining their confidence and believing what these women say instead.

You may be thinking – how does one person convince a group of people that what they remembered was entirely inaccurate? 

That’s how well these women can manipulate. 

4) They will give you the silent treatment

Another tactic these women use is the silent treatment. They use this as a weapon to pressure you into doing what they want.

They may speak to everyone else but refuse to respond to you, save for a few curt replies. Or they may choose to only say a few words to you in front of others but completely ignore you when you’re alone with them.

By doing this in a subtle manner, you’ll be the only one aware of what’s actually going on, while everyone else thinks that there’s nothing going on between the both of you.

And in doing so, you’ll suffer alone in this discomfort until she pressures you into getting her way.

This is because no one enjoys being left out or ignored – and she understands this perfectly.

5) They play the victim

If you confront them about a mistake they made, the one tactic they may use to avoid the blame is to play the victim.

Just as how they enjoy gaslighting others, playing the victim comes easily to them as well.

They’re able to change the narrative by blaming everyone else and giving all kinds of excuses until they’re off the hook.

They may even cry or simply appear very pitiful just to gain sympathy from others so that their case against yours will be much stronger.

Eventually, you may even be convinced that perhaps what they did wasn’t so bad after all, to the point of letting them off without penalty.

6) They will pit others against you

The thing about manipulative women is that they know how to convince a group of people to side with them.

By using one or a few of the tactics I mentioned earlier, they can gain the sympathy and support of people and use this against you.

For example, if you choose to confront them about something, they will know how to gaslight, manipulate, and sweet-talk their way through everyone else until you’re the only one with the opinion that they’re at fault.

You may try to explain yourself, but everyone else has been convinced that she’s not the bad guy. Instead, this will make you look like an idiot, as she’s successfully isolated you from the majority. 

And because they do it so subtly, it becomes very convincing. 

7) They will pretend to be vulnerable

The thing about these women is that they appear very genuine. Their actions, words, and behavior seem to be authentic enough for people to believe them.

And they use this to their benefit.

These women will pretend to be vulnerable to those who have a soft spot for them by sharing selective information and portraying themselves as someone who perhaps really needs help or sympathy.

In reality, these women are taking advantage of the emotions of others to paint a softer version of themselves.

In response, the people they’ve convinced will ensure that they do everything within their power to help these women. In short, these women have them wrapped around their fingers.

Concluding thoughts

Gaining a better understanding of how seemingly genuine but manipulative women work will enable you to protect yourself from being misled.

However, it’s one thing to know how to identify manipulation tactics and another to step away from it.

Setting boundaries and remaining assertive are ways you can address manipulative behavior. Ultimately, trust your intuition. If it doesn’t feel right, it usually isn’t.