The Art of the Tease

The art of the tease is a delicate one. The Tease is someone who entices you into thinking you have a chance by tantalising and arousing desire or curiosity without intending to satisfy it – well, at least not at first.

The act of tantalising is in fact named after Greek bro, Tantalus, who messed around with the gods of his day and was subsequently punished for doing so, being sentenced to stand in a pool of water under a fruit tree with low branches. The shitty part was that whenever he reached for the fruit, the branches raised his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bent down to get a drink, the water receded before he could get any. Harsh, huh. Tantalus’ name has now become the proverbial term for temptation without satisfaction.

The thing is, to be truly effective, The Teaser must eventually give up what they are teasing about, as otherwise, everything ends up in tears and blueballs. They’re dangerous waters to manoeuvre, but when done correctly, The Tease can make things all the more worthwhile.


The Tease is something most famous and commonly used as female arsenal. When executed ruthlessly, it can have deadly results, and almost always ends with the unfortunate male left with feelings of sorrow, resentment and bitterness (along with the aforementioned blueballs). Generally, emotions only get involved if The Tease goes too far and doesn’t give shit up after a few rounds.

As a Charming McGee stated, “You generally get prick-teases, but there aren’t really any ‘fanny-teases’ who’ll whisper things in your ear, buy you drinks and then NOT go home with you at the end of the night.” Unless they are hustlers just plying you for free drinks, a common enough occurrence. In that case, sucks to be you for being sucked in.


In a sexual sense, either sex can refer to the use of posture, language or other means of flirting to cause another person to become aware of the possibility of sexual arousal. It’s a form of flirting that comes even before foreplay; though the word itself can be used in a more physical sense, referring to sexual stimulation.

Ultimately though, the Art of the Tease is about power play. It’s about flipping your skirt, but actually wearing the pants, metaphorically speaking. It’s the art of coy denial, of not being ‘easy’ but in a delectable fashion. And it also means eventually succumbing to a situation that you were hoping to create all along.