Dear Cole,
Thank you for the compliments. “Disgust” is exactly the emotion we seek to target when crafting our fine, high quality, original misogynist content. Glad to know we’re still doing a bang up job. Thanks for your continued support. If you provide us with your mailing address I will be happy to extend to you a free one year subscription to the Single Dude Travel Fan Club and an autographed copy of our new book, “Misogyny and You: A man’s guide to navigating the 21st century”.
Thank you again for your support.
From: Cole xxx@me.com
Date: Wed, Jul 4, 2018 at 9:24 PM
Subject: How to Pick Up Chicks in Hong Kong
To: contact@singledudetravel.com
Hello,
I’m writing because whilst doing research on Hong Kong, I stumbled upon the article mentioned in the subject of this email and I felt compelled to let you know that this article is incredibly sexist, ignorant, and disrespectful.
Axel (the writer of this article who appears to refuse to publish his full name or even a writer profile, as well as any contact info) frequently writes about women in an objectifying way and portrays women in Hong Kong as prizes to be won rather than fellow human beings. When writing about “picking up HK girls” during the daytime, he writes, “Landmark, Harbour and Pacific Place are 3 big shopping malls you can get started with. However, it’s not uncommon to be asked to leave by security if you’re not subtle. You need to improve your game if this happens.” What Axel fails to make clear is that baiting and deceiving unsuspecting women is, in fact, plenty reason for security to escort them from the premises. Not only is it disrespectful, but it is inherently sexist as it intrinsically positions the woman in an inferior position to the man as she must be deceived and tricked in order to be “won”.
Additionally, Axel makes myriad unsubstantiated claims that could push readers to act in an undesired way. He frequently makes statements as if they are fact, without any shred of evidence to back them up whatsoever. For example: “Approaching in the day time is extremely rare in Hong Kong, so when you do, you really stand out from the crowd and the girls (usually) genuinely appreciate it.” Despite his use of “usually”, there is still no evidence whatsoever that this is true. And the point I’m trying to make is not that he should have evidence; it’s that these are dangerous assumptions to make that could motivate less critical readers to approach women in an undesired way. Many women are catcalled and approached every day, multiple times per day, and it’s very safe to say that most, if not all, do not enjoy it. Furthermore, this type of deceptive approach is not common in HK culture in part because HK culture places great emphasis on respect, and this kind of behavior is inherently disrespectful and disgusting. Here is another example: “Wednesdays in Hong Kong is Wan Chai Wednesday. This is typically a younger crowd, many of whom already know each other but are still open to being hit on and aren’t too cliquey…There are a lot of teenagers and early twenties British expats, many of whom are also DTF.” Once again, not only does Axel make dangerous and unsubstantiated, unknowable claims, but he suggests that minors, among others, are “DTF”. The examples of ignorance, misogyny, and disrespect for women and men alike in this article are rife in both quantity and breadth, and it is truly disgusting to read.
Personally, I cannot understand how another human being can view more than half of the world’s population in this way. It is vile and deplorable, and the only way this person can live with himself must be ignorance in its purest form. To be clear, I would like a response to this email so that we can engage in a civil conversation about this. I realize I used some strong and pointed language in this email, and it is because of how violent of a reaction I had to it. During a conversation, I would avoid personal attacks. I would like to hear Axel’s side of this story, and also hear from the website administrator their thoughts on this kind of literature. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Cole