Storge: the root meaning

GROK gives the etymological root meaning of storge (family love):

 

Fulltext version:

The Greek word storge refers to familial love, particularly the natural affection between parents and children or within a family. Its etymological root lies in the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) root ster- or stor-, which conveys the sense of “care,” “affection,” or “nurturing.” This root is associated with instinctive, protective, and enduring bonds, often tied to familial or communal care.

In Greek, storge derives from a verbal root related to stérgein, meaning “to love” or “to feel affection,” especially in a familial context. The term emphasizes a deep, instinctual, and often unconditional love, distinct from other Greek words for love like agape (selfless love), philia (friendship), or eros (sexual desire). The etymology reflects a foundational concept of natural attachment and care inherent in extended family relationships.

Gold Pill Philosophy

Below are a selection of articles discussing the nature of gold-pill philosopy.

Taking the Gold Pill: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Relationships
– A very short definition of the ‘gold pill’
– Gold Pill Credo on Reddit (by iTrebor)
This Is Shah: Why the Gold Pill?
– The Gold Pill: Rebuilding Relationships With Ancient Wisdom (by Ahmed Mohtaseb)
– The Gold Pill: What It Can Do For A Civilization On The Brink (by Ahmed Mohtaseb)
– The Gold Pill: Checkmate, Trad Con-Artists (by Ahmed Mohtaseb)
– I Am the Table—Rethinking Contributions in Modern Relationships (by Ahmed Mohtaseb)

See Also:

Subreddit for discussing gold pill philosopy r/goldpill_
Blog by Ahmed Mohtaseb Gold Pill Voice 

 

This Is Shah: Why the Gold Pill?

To those wondering why we created the gold pill, we did so to offer something beyond the typical Manosphere talking points which in recent times have become tired and stale.

As the voice behind the This Is Shah YouTube channel, I have spent my efforts excavating the lost knowledge of marriage transactions in human history. This field has been well documented by anthropologists, especially from the 60’s and 70’s onward. and includes information about marriage transactions such as the Dowry and Bridewealth (formerly Brideprice). Take this quote from The Economics of Dowry and Brideprice by Siwan Anderson:

Most societies, at some point in their history, have been characterized by payments at the time of marriage. Such payments typically go hand-in-hand with marriages arranged by the parents of the respective spouses. These marriage payments come in various forms and sizes but can be classified into two broad categories: transfers from the family of the bride to that of the groom, broadly termed as “dowry,” or from the groom’s side to the bride’s, broadly termed as “brideprice.” Brideprice occurs in two-thirds of societies recorded in Murdock’s (1967) World Ethnographic Atlas of 1167 preindustrial societies. Conversely, dowry occurs in less than 4 percent of this sample. However, in terms of population numbers, dowry has played a more significant role, because the convention of dowry has occurred mainly in Europe and Asia, where more than 70 percent of the world’s population resides.

However, somehow the manosphere has managed to completely miss this information and what it means for relationships in the modern world. I, and the others here who have taken the Gold Pill, aim to correct this.

We have a trove (or rather a dowry chest) full of information which include academic/scholarly papers, newspaper articles, and media from different time periods that more than demonstrate, decisively and precisely, how the marriage market operated with regard to economics and the material concerns of both parties involved.

As the r/goldpill_ subreddit develops, I plan to share what I have and it is my desire to see this forum become a place of honest discussion between participants who wish to understand and absorb the gold pill better. Ultimately, I would like to see people, especially men, process this information in a way that will help us to collectively bargain and negotiate better for marriage and within relationships, in a way that is fair and just. The memory of this information I believe will be necessary to help men navigate the uncertain future we have ahead of us.

Are we going back to the way things were? No, we are not, not in my belief, the world has experienced too many changes, and nothing short of a collapse and total reset will take us back to how things used to be. However, with this knowledge, we will craft a new way forward that gives to each what is owed.

-Shah

The Gold Pill: Rebuilding Relationships with Ancient Wisdom

1. Introduction: A New Language for a Broken Landscape

We live in a time when relationships are harder to navigate than ever. Expectations are unclear, commitments are unstable, and traditional frameworks have either collapsed or been pathologized. In the middle of this mess, something new has emerged—something grounded, mature, and restorative. It’s called the Gold Pill.

The Gold Pill is not a fantasy or a reaction, but a return to realism. It offers men and women a way to understand relationships not just through feelings or resentment, but through value, structure, and mutual respect. It’s a mindset for those who want a partnership that lasts, not just sparks that fade.

2. What Is the Gold Pill?

The Gold Pill is a philosophy of relationships rooted in ancient wisdom, updated for the modern world. It’s a response to the extremes of the current dating culture—especially those promoted in the Manosphere—and offers a third path: neither cynical nor delusional.

At its heart, the Gold Pill insists that love is not free. Historically, love was structured—backed by family negotiations, community standards, and clear reciprocal obligations. That structure, however imperfect, kept relationships sustainable.

Today, that structure has been replaced by something far flimsier: feelings, vibes, and social media approval. The Gold Pill doesn’t reject love. It simply warns that romance without reciprocity becomes a trap. What was once known as dowry, alliance, and mutual obligation has been degraded into performative gestures and one-sided devotion. Men now routinely pay for virtual attention on platforms like OnlyFans, and pledge lifelong devotion in the form of marriage proposals… often to women who offer little, if any, meaningful reciprocity. The Gold Pill reclaims those lost truths and reframes them in a way that is practical, fair, and deeply human.

Unlike the optimism of pop psychology, which often suggests that love will simply arrive if we work on ourselves, the Gold Pill recognizes that love is a social structure, not just a personal feeling. It must be cultivated, negotiated, and honored by both partners.

3. The Philosophical Backbone: Key Tenets of the Gold Pill

The Gold Pill Credo (by iTrebor) lays out its philosophy with clarity:

• Love is not unconditional: It has always required structure and contribution.
• The dowry system never disappeared: It changed form and became an unspoken expectation on men.
• Provision without reciprocity is exploitation: Giving without return is not noble—it is servitude.
• Romance is not a foundation: Feelings follow structure, not the other way around.
• Men have value by default: Worth is not earned through endless labor or submission.
• Fairness is the foundation of respect: Without balance, love decays into resentment.

This philosophy rejects both the idealism of the Blue Pill and the nihilism of the Black Pill. It avoids the rage of the Red Pill and the illusions of the pickup artist world. Instead, it studies history, incentives, and human nature. The goal is not domination or detachment—but durable connection.

4. Context: The Manosphere and Its Fragmented Pillars

To understand the Gold Pill, it helps to know the world it emerged from: the Manosphere. This loosely connected online ecosystem explores men’s issues, dating dynamics, masculinity, and society’s changing expectations of men.

Over time, the Manosphere has splintered into camps:

• Red Pill: Rooted in evolutionary psychology and social critique. Its main insight is that many romantic ideals are false, but it often falls into bitterness and manipulation.
• Blue Pill: The mainstream narrative. It believes in love as an organic, magical outcome if you’re a good enough person. It’s deeply idealistic—and often blind to modern realities.
• Black Pill: A fatalistic view that believes looks and status are all that matter. Often associated with incels, it sees relationships as rigged beyond redemption.
• Pickup Artists (PUAs): Focused on tactics for seduction. Often transactional and performance-based.
• MGTOW (Men Going Their Own Way): A disengagement philosophy where men distance themselves from traditional relationships—especially marriage—to protect their peace, autonomy, and long-term well-being. While many opt out entirely, some maintain selective relationships on their own terms. At its core, MGTOW resists systems seen as exploitative or one-sided.
• Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs): Focus on legal and institutional bias against men, such as in family courts and domestic violence law.
• Christ Pill: A smaller but growing movement that believes a return to traditional Christian morality is the solution to modern relationship chaos.
• Passport Bros: Men who leave Western dating markets in search of relationships abroad where they feel more respected or appreciated.

These all offer pieces of the puzzle—but often fail to deliver a vision that is both honest and hopeful. That’s where the Gold Pill comes in.

5. Origins and Influences: Where the Gold Pill Comes From

The Gold Pill grew organically from deep, ongoing conversations between creators, scholars, and thinkers trying to make sense of modern relationships. Its central figure is Shah, creator of the ThisIsShah stream on YouTube. Shah’s work draws on everything from child support, men’s issues, history, anthropology and economics to personal testimony and religious tradition.

The term “Gold Pill” itself was coined by Shah’s friend iTrebor during a Saturday Night Stream on May 10, 2025. Since then, the idea has taken on a life of its own.

Other influential voices include:

• Jon, creator of the ItsComplicated YouTube channel, known for his street interviews revealing public confusion around relationship norms and gender roles.
• Paul Elam, founder of A Voice for Men, a key figure in the men’s rights movement.
• Peter Wright, scholar and historian on gender norms and gynocentric culture, is the founder of Gynocentrism.com, a long-running blog documenting the history and impact of female-centered social structures.
• Stephen Baskerville, political scientist focusing on family law and fatherhood.
• The broader community of ThisIsShah stream participants, who bring lived experience, academic rigor, and honest dialogue to the table.

These thinkers, along with countless everyday men, are shaping a new paradigm—one where men no longer self-sacrifice to be accepted but instead build on mutual respect.

6. Reclaiming the Dowry: Ancient Tools for Modern Partnership

One of the most striking contributions of the Gold Pill is its re-evaluation of the dowry.

Most people today misunderstand dowries as primitive or patriarchal. But in truth, the dowry system often served as a stabilizing mechanism. It forced both families to take marriage seriously, provided the couple with resources to start their life, and ensured that the union was equitable. The dowry was not a payment for a bride—it was an investment in a future.

In many cultures, it balanced hypergamy, reinforced mutual obligations, and allowed structured negotiations. Where it functioned well, it gave young couples a better shot at long-term success than today’s vibe-based dating economy.

The Gold Pill revives this understanding—not to copy it literally, but to translate its principles for today. Structure. Reciprocity. Shared mission. These are the real currencies of lasting relationships.

7. Conclusion: From Fragmentation to Foundation

The Gold Pill isn’t a reaction—it’s a reconstruction. It doesn’t exist to fight women or rage against the system. It exists because men and women both deserve better than what we’ve been sold.

In a world of romantic confusion, the Gold Pill offers clarity.
In a world of transactional performance, it offers structure.
In a world of silent burnout, it offers reciprocity.

Whether you’re a man trying to find your footing, or a woman seeking partnership that feels truly mutual, the Gold Pill invites you to rebuild—not from fantasy, but from value. From intention. From wisdom.

We don’t retreat. We don’t chase. We build.
And this time, we build with gold.

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Epilogue: My Gold Pill Moment

For years, I navigated the world of dating with a sense of confusion and frustration. Despite my best efforts to be a supportive and understanding partner, relationships often left me feeling unappreciated and emotionally drained.

It wasn’t until I discovered Shah’s content that I began to see things differently. His insights into the dynamics of modern relationships and the importance of mutual respect resonated deeply with me. I realized that I had been operating under misguided assumptions, believing that self-sacrifice and constant validation were the keys to a successful partnership.

This revelation was both liberating and empowering. I started to approach relationships with a renewed sense of self-worth, seeking connections that were balanced, respectful, and grounded in mutual appreciation. The Gold Pill philosophy didn’t just change my perspective—it transformed my life.

Gold Pill Credo

The following is a ‘gold pill credo’ written by iTrebor in collaboration with gold-pill friends & associates.

Gold Pill Credo

I. We Should Not Pretend

  • Love has never been free.
  • It was once transacted in land, gold, and livestock — now it’s traded in lifestyle, beauty, and attention.
  • We do not pretend this isn’t the case.
  • The Gold Pill is not bitter. It is honest.

II. The Dowry Never Died — It Just Changed Hands

  • The dowry system was not abolished.
  • It was absorbed into men’s obligations and disguised as “romance.”
  • Where once a woman brought capital to a union, she is now told her beauty is the capital.
  • We reject the lie that aesthetics are contribution.

III. We Study History Because We Refuse Amnesia

  • For centuries, marriage was never about just love.
  • It was economic alliance, intergenerational security, and cooperative survival.
  • The dowry was infrastructure — not oppression.
  • We read history not to mourn the past, but to expose the present.

IV. Provision Without Reciprocity Is Slavery

  • Men are told: “Be the provider, or you are not a man.”
  • Meanwhile, women are told: “If he truly loves you, he’ll expect nothing in return.”
  • This is not partnership — it is parasitism.
  • Gold Pill does not hate women. It rejects imbalance.

V. Romance Is a Luxury — Not a Foundation

  • Emotions are real, but they are not a plan.
  • Every system that replaced dowries with “love” has seen rising resentment, broken homes, and delayed families.
  • We believe in love that rests on structure — not fantasy.

VI. The Government Became the New Father — And It’s Colder

  • When families stopped providing dowries, the state stepped in — with welfare, severance, subsidies.
  • The result? Women became dependents of institutions, not men.
  • This is not independence. This is rebranded reliance.
  • We aim to build lives with agency, not outsourced responsibility.

VII. We Are Not Red Pill. We Are Not Blue Pill. We Are Gold.

  • Red sees manipulation, Blue sees magic. We see incentives.
  • We do not retreat into rage. We do not escape into dreams.
  • We remain in reality — and rebuild from it.

VIII. The New Dowry Is Not a Price Tag. It’s a Mindset.

  • We don’t demand gold. We demand value: emotional maturity, practical reciprocity, shared mission.
  • If you bring nothing, you are not oppressed. You are irrelevant.
  • Gold Pill is not about transactions — it’s about fairness.

IX. We Reclaim Courtship As Strategy, Not Game

  • The modern mating market is broken — not because people are evil, but because incentives are misaligned.
  • Gold Pillers don’t chase. They evaluate.
  • They don’t manipulate. They negotiate.

X. Gold Pill Is the Antidote to Gold Digging

  • Not because we reject value — but because we insist it be mutual, conscious, and earned.
  • Gold diggers commodify love without honesty. Gold Pillers restore value with clarity.

Taking the Gold Pill: A Paradigm Shift in Understanding Relationships

The concept of “taking the gold pill” represents a pragmatic acknowledgment that financial resources, economic realities, and societal expectations are deeply intertwined with the dynamics of courtship, commitment, gender expectations and marriage.

Far from subscribing to the naive notion that love operates in a vacuum untouched by any material concerns, the gold pill invites both men and women to confront the undeniable influence of wealth and material status on romantic relationships. This perspective does not cynically reduce love to a transactional exchange but instead fosters a clear-eyed understanding of how economic factors shape human connections in modern society.

By embracing the gold pill, individuals are equipped with the intellectual and emotional tools to navigate the complex interplay between affection and ambition, desire and security. This approach encourages men to recognize the pressures to provide or perform as a “successful” partner who is expected to cater to women’s every want, while for women, it could involve questioning the expectation to prioritize dependency over financial contribution, stability and independence.

The gold pill fosters open conversations about money, power, and vulnerability, dismantling the taboos that often shroud these topics in romantic contexts. By doing so, it paves the way for more authentic connections, where partners can negotiate their needs and expectations with transparency and mutual respect. Ultimately, the gold pill is not about surrendering to materialism but about mastering the art of balancing love, ambition, and self-awareness in a world where resources and relationships are inextricably linked.

 

 

For discussion of the Gold Pill see:  r/goldpill_

The Dowry System Makes For Wedded Bliss – by Dorothy Dix (1932)

The following article by Dorothy Dix was published in the Adelaide News, 7 Jul 1932

 

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Dowry System Makes for Wedded Bliss

Wife With Income Gets More Respect
BY DOROTHY DIX

A REVIVAL of the dowry system would not only encourage marriage but would promote wedded happiness, because a wife who has her own income, however small, is accorded greater respect by her husband.

The dowry system is a plan that I have advocated for years. It is the foundation stone of marriage in many countries. Personally I can think of nothing that would speed up the matrimonial market so much as giving girls dowries, because the reason why young people do not marry is not because they do not want to, but because they have not the price of a wedding ring.

THERE are mighty few young men in their 20’s, which is the age in which they are most inclined towards marriage, who make enough money alone and unaided to afford the luxury of a wife. So they have to put off marrying until they are well in their 30’s, and by that time they have more or less outgrown the romantic urge and marriage does not look so good to them as does bachelorhood and freedom.

AFFORD TO MARRY
But if a girl had a dowry it would be different. If a bride brought along her own bread and butter, so to speak, and was able to buy her own fluffy ruffles, then boys and girls could afford to marry while they were still young and ardent. A wife would then be an asset to a man instead of a liability, and marriage would be a grand sweet song instead of a perpetual fight over bills, as it generally is when people try something beyond their means. Love’s young dream has to be financed, or else it turns into a nightmare.

Fathers who bring their daughters up with pink crepe-de-chine habits and tastes should in common honesty and justice continue to suppy the silk lingerie. Otherwise you place a great hardship on both the girl and her husband, and jeopardise their marriage, for many a marriage goes on the rocks because the young husband cannot supply the finery to which the girl has been accustomed, and she cannot adjust herself to a lower standard of living.

For a girl to be given a dowry when she marries would do much to promote her happiness. It would give her the self-respect that even partial financial independence gives, and it would make her husband respect her more. Few men ever treat a wife who has her own pocket book in the same way that they treat one who hasn’t a penny of her own. A rich man once said to me, “I have settled enough money on my daughters in a trust fund to ensure that their husbands will always treat them with politeness and consideration.”

Even when husbands are generous it is wormwood and gall in a woman’s mouth for her to have to ask him for every cent. Every time she has to do it she is humiliated and she feels that she would almost sell her soul for even the smallest income that was her own.

BETTER INVESTMENT
It is because this financial independence is so craved by women that business girls are so loath to give up their jobs after marriage.

Of course, parents will say they cannot afford to give their daughters dowries, and that after you have dressed a girl and sent her to college and given her a trip to Europe and a sports car, there is nothing left to give her when she marries.

True enough, but I believe that if fathers and mothers spent less on their daughters’ backs while they were growing up, and put more in their hope chests, it would be a far better investment in the long run and bring in a higher percentage in happiness and wellbeing to the girls.

In some countries when a baby girl is born her parents begin laying up her dowry so that she may not only be able to marry when she is grown, but have her safety assured after marriage.

Most parents spend all they can rake and scrape together in dolling up a girl, on the gamble that she will be good looking enough to catch a husband who will provide for her. But they never think unless they are rich, of safeguarding her future themselves.

 

 

Dowry System Favored As A “Good Investment” – by Dorothy Dix (1935)

The following article by Dorothy Dix was published in the Richmond News Leader, Number 11959, 4 November 1935.

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Dowry System Favored As “Good Investment”

Financing Children in Marriage Lauded
BY DOROTHY DIX

ONE OF THE acute problems of the day is that of the young people who want to marry, but cannot do so because they have not enough money with which to set up a home.

All of us know fine young boys and girls who are deperately in love with each other, who are literally lovesick for each other, and whose health, whose happiness, and whose morale are being undermined by a long engagement, to which even youthful optimism can see no end. They hope against hope that times will improve, that the young man will get a better job, that some miracle will happen that will enable them to marry, and in the meantime they eat their hearts out in bitterness and longing for the natural right to mate that is denied them.

That this condition of affairs is causing many young people, who would prefer to be openly and honorably married, to indulge in liaisons;  that it is substituting love nests for clean homes; that it is starting many a young girl on the downward path, and bringing hordes of nameless little children into the world, no one can deny. Nor can anyone deny that it is producing an undesirable crop of cynical bachelors and soured old maids.

But what to do about it, since love isn’t really enough to live upon, and, married or single, we must eat and have a roof above our heads and clothes to cover us? Doubtless, in time, the government will set up an alphabetical society that will provide trousseau, bridal trips and honeymoon flats well stocked with angel’s food for newlyweds, but until that halcyon day arrives, it seems to me that it is up to the parents to help their children to get married instead of telling them to “wait,” which seems so easy to those not in love and so tragic to those in love.

No other one thing is so illogical and incomprehensible, anyway, as the attitude of American fathers and mothers toward their children’s marriages. They believe in marriage.  They want their children to marry. They look forward to their children’s marriages. Yet not one American father and mother in a hundred make any provisions for their children’s marriages, or do anything to make it possible for them to marry under conditions that will help to make their marriages successes.

American parents are overindulgent to their children so long as they stay at home. They lavish upon them fine clothes and sport cars, but they do not put aside for a girl any dowry that will help her finance her marriage to the worthy young man she loves, who is just beginning to climb the ladder and who cannot take upon his back a wife who will be a burden to him.

Many an American girl goes to her husband without a penny in her pocket. Her who assets consist of nothing but a costly trousseau of useless finery that she would gladly trade off for a $10-a-month allowance from papa.

The argument, then, is that parents, knowing that their children will some day want to marry, should save up something to finance that, just as they put aside money to send them to college, and that after they are married, they should continue to help them if they need it, until they are on their feet.

Perhaps the reason that fathers and mothers are so unwilling to make sacrifices, why they balk at going to live in a smaller and less pretentious house, or do without a new car in order that Mary may marry that young Jones she is so crazy about, is because they have passed the sentimental age, and love’s young dream doesn’t seem as important to them as their own comfort.

They don’t regard it as vital. But in this they are wrong. It is their children’s whole life, their whole well-being that is at stake, and the most important thing in the world to them is that they should marry while they are still young and still capable of romantic and passionate love.

Furthermore, in financing their children’s marriages to the right men and women, parents are making the best investment in the world. For the poor young man who couldn’t alone support a wife when he married, often not only provides for her in after years, but takes care of her parents.