A Melbourne hotel has cancelled appearances by an American "pick up artist", after an online petition labeling his tactics as “sexist and racist” attracted nearly 20,000 signatures.
The Como Hotel in Melbourne was set to have 25-year-old Julien Blanc run a series of seminars on dating and approaching women.
Blanc and his associated group, RSD (Real Social Dynamics), are known for their controversial workshops and seminars that teach men how to manipulate women into having sex.
On his website pimpingmygame.com, the self-described “executive dating coach” promises to “make girls beg to sleep with you after short-circuiting their emotional and logical mind into a million reasons why they should.”
Many have called his “pick up” tactics sexually abusive and sexist.
In one video, Blanc is seen using his “white male” privilege to harass Japanese women. He grabs the heads of random females on the street and pushes their heads towards his crotch.
He recounts his experience during a recent workshop: "When you go to Tokyo….if you’re a white male, you can do what you want. Just grab her, pull her in. She’ll giggle. Just say PIKACHU or POKEMON or something to take the pressure off. I’m romping through the streets (of Tokyo) just grabbing girls and it’s like (motions) head on dick (pfft) head on dick, yelling ‘PIKACHU’ with a Pikachu shirt on….Every foreigner who is white does this."
Blanc has also publicly tweeted pictures of himself grabbing women’s throats in nightclubs, adding the hashtag #ChokingGirlsAroundTheWorld. Those posts have since been deleted.
His demeaning dating techniques have attracted huge online backlash. Organiser of a Change.org petition, Jennifer Li, started the hashtag #TakeDownJulienBlanc and called on Australians to boycott Blanc’s seminars.
“Julien Blanc and his group, RSD (Real Social Dynamics) are a group of sexist and racist 'pick up artists,' who have made a living by teaching men how to violate women through physical and emotional abuse.
“Do not associate your hotel's good name with a man who chokes women around the world as part of his pick up game. Please stand with the women of Australia, the women of America, and women everywhere, and do not host an event where men are being taught how to violate and harass women.”
The Como Hotel has since cancelled the event. In the US, the Hilton Garden Inn Austin also followed suit.
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