So I don’t know if you guys have heard, but dudes apparently like getting laid. I know, SHOCKING, right? Because of this, there’s naturally a huge market out there of dudes who have trouble getting laid for people who claim to know how to help such dudes get laid to exploit receive money from in exchange for helping to teach them how to get laid. See Neil Strauss and The Game, for example.
Apparently looking to build off of Strauss’ success at tapping into the lonely bro market is a guy from Milford, Connecticut named Ken Hoinsky, a prolific Redditor who posts under the name “TofuTofu” — mostly on on Seddit, the site’s “seduction” forum. Hoinsky, who claims to be “good at teaching others to become good with women,” is using Kickstarter to raise funds to self-publish his p*ssy crushing Magnum Opus, Above The Game: A Guide to Getting Awesome with Women.
Here’s his video pitch…
Now, all of this is fine on the face of it, mind you. It’s a free country and people can do what they want with their money and whatnot and you can argue that Hoinsky is just carving out a niche in the free market for himself and all that. But what’s troubling about this are the methods Hoinsky, who’s posted some teasers/excerpts from his book on Reddit, preaches, methods that probably fall within the definition of sexual assault under the laws of most states.
For instance…
“All the greatest seducers in history could not keep their hands off of women. They aggressively escalated physically with every woman they were flirting with. They began touching them immediately, kept great body language and eye contact, and were shameless in their physicality. Even when a girl rejects your advances, she KNOWS that you desire her. That’s hot. It arouses her physically and psychologically.”
And then…
“Decide that you’re going to sit in a position where you can rub her leg and back. Physically pick her up and sit her on your lap. Don’t ask for permission. Be dominant. Force her to rebuff your advances.”
Annnnnd (drum roll, please) then…
Pull out your c*ck and put her hand on it. Remember, she is letting you do this because you have established yourself as a LEADER. Don’t ask for permission, GRAB HER HAND, and put it right on your dick.”
Okay then!
So far, Hoinsky has far exceeded his original funding goal of $2000 — as of this writing he has raised $16,369 from 732 backers. I think comedian Casey Malone explains perfectly why this is a huge potential problem for Kickstarter.
This guy is no longer just being weird and creepy on the internet. Now he’s writing a book about how to sexually assault women, and he is using something I believe in (Kickstarter) to ask YOU for money to do it. I am offended as someone who believes in the platform, and more importantly I am offended as someone who believes women shouldn’t be treated this way, and that people who say otherwise CERTAINLY should not profit off saying they should.
This isn’t harmless. People come to these boards because they are scared of being humiliated, and they are saying to the world, “Tell me what to do, because I don’t know what to do.” And this guy has chosen to tell them, “You should be a rapist.”
Malone encouraged people to protest the project in the hopes of having Kickstarter kill it for being inappropriate, but this afternoon it became fully funded, and then some. So I suppose we can all look forward to a few rapey nerds running around out there in the world soon.
But seriously, guys, if you’re trying to get a girl, I think the advice imparted last night on Twitter by my friend Maura is pretty golden, not to mention simple and easy…
And if that doesn’t work, she’s just not worth it. Period.
(UPDATE: An online petition asking Kickstarter to block funding for Above the Game has been launched. If you feel so inclined, you can sign it here.