You’d probably be interested in Clarisse Thorn’s Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser. She spent quite a bit of time researching PUA, both in theory and in practice.
Short version: There are a lot of kinds of PUA, ranging from types which are generally benevolent through types which are iffy to flat out misogyny. PUA is probably better for men who learn some skills, then leave the subculture(s).
Having a strong habit of maintaining “strategic ambiguity” (I think this is Thorn’s phrase) can lead to loneliness, no matter how many people it attracts.
Note: there’s a section about Thorn’s relationship with a PUA which isn’t terribly interesting. You may want to skip to the end which gets back to good stuff. She’s aware of the problem with the section, but no one could agree on what needed to be cut.
She says that feminists have been working on explicit verbal consent, and PUAs have been working on understanding non-verbal consent, and the two groups have useful things to learn from each other.
You’d probably be interested in Clarisse Thorn’s Confessions of a Pickup Artist Chaser. She spent quite a bit of time researching PUA, both in theory and in practice.
Short version: There are a lot of kinds of PUA, ranging from types which are generally benevolent through types which are iffy to flat out misogyny. PUA is probably better for men who learn some skills, then leave the subculture(s).
Having a strong habit of maintaining “strategic ambiguity” (I think this is Thorn’s phrase) can lead to loneliness, no matter how many people it attracts.
Note: there’s a section about Thorn’s relationship with a PUA which isn’t terribly interesting. You may want to skip to the end which gets back to good stuff. She’s aware of the problem with the section, but no one could agree on what needed to be cut.
She says that feminists have been working on explicit verbal consent, and PUAs have been working on understanding non-verbal consent, and the two groups have useful things to learn from each other.