Lately, women have been setting down their Cosmopolitan magazines and adopting a whole new bible. Unfortunately, the new bible is called “He’s Just Not That Into You” and provides women little faith – at least Cosmo gave us hope (and 25 sexy ways to style our hair).

The book “He’s Just Not That Into You,” by former “Sex and the City” writers Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, addresses the ridiculous excuses that women make for men that, according to Behrendt and Tuccillo, just aren’t that into them.

The book is harsh, but is it the harsh reality? Tuccillo writes, “It’s the most liberating thing I’ve ever heard” and with enthusiastic responses to its appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “20/20,” it seems that many women agree.

I believe it was the great philosopher Sinbad who once said that if you walk through the door and see that your woman has been watching “Oprah,” you better turn around and run back out!

“He’s Just Not That Into You” encourages women to move on if they’re unhappy with the actions of their man because “you wouldn’t settle for sub-standard performance in your business or at work, why run your love life that way?” But the book as a whole is not always so encouraging.

Chapter one, entitled “He’s just not that into you if he’s not asking you out,” tells women that they should not be the one to call or ask a guy out. The cold hard truth, according to the book, is that if a confident, independent, impatient woman doesn’t play hard to get and give the guy a chase, well, goddamnit, he just won’t be that into you! It’s sad really. I thought we had come so far.

Senior sociology major Nathan Gano disagrees with the book’s advice for women to wait for a man. “Sometimes guys are shy,” Gano said. “We might not approach a girl if we don’t think we have a chance with her.”

Sac State Psychology Professor George Parrott said, “Sometimes it is the woman that is ‘just not into’ you enough. Relationships are almost always two-sided and are basically about trust and risk. Individuals who aren’t ready for both qualities find ways to escape.”

Dating can be complicated and “He’s Just Not That Into You” may be right, but what if it’s not? Literally every woman I know has read or heard of the book and the majority of them have taken its mantra to heart. “I’ll never wait by the phone again!” they cry. And then, “I’ll never go after what I want either!”

“It says a lot about our culture if this book is on the best-seller list,” junior English major Gabrielle Alvayay said. “It promotes manipulation and games, as though people have to present themselves as something they’re not.”

There’s a time and a place for playing games. Some Scrabble with the family? Sure. A little Twister with friends? Fantastic. But playing games in relationships? Overrated.

The authors do not claim to be relationship therapists and Behrendt reminds readers, “I’m a comedian and Liz is a comedy writer, this is just our opinion.” But if “He’s Just Not That Into You” is doing more harm than good, maybe the authors should’ve stuck to comedy.

Jen White can be reached at [email protected]