The Bachelor's Olena is playing by The Rules, and it might be the winning strategy.

Olena Khamula has been a curious personality on this season of The Bachelor.

While the other women in the running for Richie (God, that’s a problematic sentence to type) have chosen to wear their heart on their sleeve, proclaiming their love for him in their first few dates, Olena has been far more reserved.

She doesn’t demand time with Richie like the others do, and sometimes she seems, dare I say it, disinterested. 

Last night, she even challenged Richie about what would happen if her parents didn’t like him.

If. They. Didn’t. Like. HIM.

That’s not a thing in The Bachelor land. The premise of this show is that everyone likes Richie and it’s only the women who are open to judgement.

Richie seems at once frustrated and highly, highly intrigued by Olena's behaviour. He says he's attracted to her 'quiet confidence' (though none of us are quite sure what that means), and while the other girls are jumping over each other to get closer to him, Olena's comfortably seated within Richie's periphery.

'What is she doing?' you may be wondering. Well, my friends, we've worked it all out.

Olena is playing by The Rules.

You might not be aware (I certainly wasn't), but there are rules ladies are meant to play by in the dating game.

Listen to the latest episode of Bach Chat featuring the one and only Keira. (Post continues after audio.)

A book titled The Rules: Time-tested Secrets for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right (yep, this actually exists) by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider was published in 1995, and outlines all the rules a woman should follow to attract and marry a man.

Just to reiterate, this was published in 1995, not 1795.

The underlying logic behind The Rules is that women shouldn't aggressively pursue men, but should encourage men to pursue them.

A closer look at The Rules provides me with all the hate-reading I needed for a Thursday afternoon. Goodness. These are a few of my favourites.

Ahem, ladies:

Be a “Creature Unlike Any Other."

Olena nails this.

She's unique. Exotic. She's Ukrainian. She wears bright orange eye shadow.

I, unfortunately, do not fit the 'creature unlike any other' mould. I'm desperately default. I even have a twin sister who, frankly, is really quite similar to me. Eugh. We're only up to rule one and I'm already failing.

Don't Stare at Men or Talk Too Much.

Oops. I do both of these things.

I'm sorry... but this one really makes it sound like we're talking about caged animals. DON'T FEED THE MENS.

But seriously, Olena is quiet, and hardly seems to pay attention to Richie on group dates or at cocktail parties.

Don't Talk to a Man First (and Don't Ask Him to Dance).

Okay, well, it's not the 1800s, so the dance thing isn't so much of an issue, but apparently we're not meant to speak to men first.

*GASP* This means Alex has been BETRAYED by the White Rose. WHY would the producers put her in a situation where she had the power to speak to Richie first when women aren't meant to do that?!

I don't think Olena has ever initiated a conversation with Richie. Jesus, she really is nailing these rules.

No More than Casual Kissing on the First Date.

I mean, this would be a little difficult when you're on national television and surrounded by a camera crew, but all the women on The Bachelor have followed this rule.

Stop Dating Him if He Doesn't Buy You a Romantic Gift for Your Birthday or Valentine's Day.

It wasn't her birthday or Valentine's Day, but Richie did buy Olena a fancy dress on their first date. Good move, Richie, because according to these rules, she would have dumped you if you didn't.

Let Him Take the Lead.

Holy sh*t this is just so sexist, but I'm enjoying the ridiculousness of these rules SO much.

What does this even mean? I guess Olena lets Richie take the lead, by not revealing too much about herself and encouraging him to do most of the talking.

I definitely don't follow this one. Woops.

The women still in the running for Richie's heart. (Post continues after gallery.)

Don’t Open Up Too Fast.

BOOM. This is Olena in a nutshell.

Who is she? What does she do? Richie hardly knows anything about her. Yet she's in the top four out of more than 20 girls.

This is probably the one I personally fail at the most. I'm way too open, way too early on. When I meet people, I like to tell them: 'Hi, I'm Clare. I have a dog called Caesar who is a Staffy/Labrador cross. He's probably one of my best friends. When I was was nine months old my twin sister broke my leg. HAHA what a psychopath! I currently have a cold sore up my nose because that happens sometimes.'

Too much information, or...?

Be Honest but Mysterious.

Oh. I guess it's pretty clear I fail at this, too. Olena, on the other hand, is the Queen of Mysterious. Richie never knows what she's thinking and never knows how she's feeling about him. Dayyyum girl, you studied this book HARD.

Just to be completely transparent, I think this book is appalling. We don't need to follow any goddamn rules to 'catch' the guy of our dreams (some of us aren't even attracted to men, for God's sake), and we definitely don't need to adopt behaviours that make us passive and subservient.

Olena does seem to be employing some of these rules, but surely it's just a coincidence.

If Richie chooses Olena, or Alex, or Nikki, or Rachel, hopefully it'll be because of who they are as a person, rather than any kind of dating strategy.