I am vicious. I work very hard on impulse control.
:)
I am teasing as usual. I am not planning anything.
No, it is true that, everyone manipulates or coerces or whatever.
I just don't like bullies. It is just my maternal instinct or whatever. I root for the underdog or the less fortunate, etc.
Almost any trait you read about, that falls under a label of personality disorder, can be fine in limited qualities.
Friends and couples mirror, or make themselves look good or manipulate a situation to appear to be worthy.
The most vicious things in my house are my pets. :)
Etiquette is social steering. Etiquette is the art of not offending the people around you. If you let somebody know you are manipulating them, their opinion of you will be affected negatively.
"Can I have a bite of that?" is not manipulation, rather a request. The person may respond as they wish without consequence.
However "Can I have a bite of that?" becomes a manipulation when there are strings attached to the various responses to the question, some kind of additional coercion is used to limit or simplify the persons response, or the action of asking the question is part of a greater objective.
Not all abusive behaviour is bad neither. Abuse really is misuse. If I was to use a pen as a letter opener, am I not misusing the object? If I was to enable a person to do something they would normally refrain from doing, is that not the same kind of activity? The difference is that the pen has no faculties that allow self-determination.
I agree that perception is meant to be malleable. The problem is, it is not your place to modify the perceptions of others. Your own selfish action has the potential to cause a person to waste their life serving a delusion. For example: "Can I have a bite out of that?" said in a seductive tone can easily potentially mislead a person into becoming needlessly obsessed with you.
Nearly every kind of manipulative behaviour is ultimately intended to secure material gain, intimidate, or dodge responsibility.
"If you let somebody know you are manipulating them, their opinion of you will be affected negatively."
Maybe when you do that. 
"The problem is, it is not your place to modify the perceptions of others."
Says who? People do it all the time, whether consciously or unconsciously. Why should being aware of it limit my options?
For that matter, who's place is it to do that? Teachers? Why should a label be required?
As for the rest of it, it seems we carry different ideas of what constitutes manipulation. As I see it, what you're describing to me are forms or factors of manipulation as opposed to the entirety of it.
by Turncoat"If you let somebody know you are manipulating them, their opinion of you will be affected negatively."
Maybe when you do that.
"The problem is, it is not your place to modify the perceptions of others."
Says who? People do it all the time, whether consciously or unconsciously. Why should being aware of it limit my options?
For that matter, who's place is it to do that? Teachers? Why should a label be required?
As for the rest of it, it seems we carry different ideas of what constitutes manipulation. As I see it, what you're describing to me are forms or factors of manipulation as opposed to the entirety of it.
People do resent your manipulative behaviour, they just dismiss it as a character flaw and politely do not mention it. You might be considered an honest rogue: a manipulator so blatant and rediculous that your behaviour is mistaken as cute or funny... a speech impediment can be taken as cute or funny.
As I have grown older, my manipulative behaviour has decreased. I have made an interesting observation: manipulative people are the easiest people to manipulate. They always have their nose in other peoples business. This preoccupation renders them distracted, unproductive, and off-center.
I agree that we are writing about different things. Mostly I was discussing the manipulation that takes place during grooming, where a victim has been marked to recieve an ongoing pattern of abuse.