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Editor’s Note:* On November 1st (Saturday) at 1 am, Jennifer Li saw a video on-line of the so-called “dating expert” Julien Blanc that left her so horrified, that she had to take action. Working with a group of activists and journalists who later became friends and with on-line allies, within less than a week Jennifer had gotten Julien Blanc kicked out of Australia and brought world attention to a misogynous business community of so-called “pick-up artists” selling hatred and exploitation of women as dating techniques.
In her own, sometimes slightly vulgar words, this self-proclaimed, “angry asian girl” tells why and how she took action—and why she now is going to step back a little and let others continue the good work.
Please note: to readers, media and other bloggers, you are welcome to repost this anywhere, in good faith, if you like, but please link to the original post on Japan Subculture Research Center, especially if you are using just part of the essay. Thank you.
One who is present at a wrongdoing and does not lift a hand to prevent it, is as guilty as the wrongdoers
—a native American proverb
I started the campaign at around 1am on Saturday, after I saw the video on Tumblr. I was scrolling through and saw the first video I’ve ever come across on Julien Blanc. It was the Japanese one.
Watching it, each second was more horrifying than the next. I’ve had no experience taking anyone down, so I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I had so much anger in me that I needed to channel it somewhere. I started the #takedownjulienblanc hashtag and @Jennli123 twitter account without knowing if it would ever pick up.
When I watched this video–
there were a million things going through my mind; how he was abusing his white privilege, how he was abusing his male privilege, how he is dehumanizing Japanese women, how he is committing sexual assault, how he is teaching this to other men, and how this will affect all women, everywhere. And when I looked at the company employing him, Real Social Dynamics (RSD) and their hub Real Social Dynamics Nation, and I did not like what I found.
I was outraged, with him especially. How dare he violate these Japanese women’s’ spaces! How dare he pass on his disgusting views and methods onto other men! This guy was in essence, assaulting women and getting away with it. And not just getting away with it— he was REWARDED for it. I could not believe that he could go about doing this without consequences.
He is perpetuating the idea that Asian women basically mean a “free for all” for predators. He emboldens men to approach Asian women and harass them. Men like him create problems for women like me because I am an Asian woman, and I don’t need men getting horrible ideas from watching videos like this to sexually harass me and invade my personal space. I am Chinese, but the type of people who will perpetuate this type of behavior won’t care what type of Asian I am. There are repercussions to Asian women everywhere; this guy is saying that it’s ok to have yellow fever, and to enact out sick power fantasies on Asian women. But not just Asian women—all women. He’s an equal opportunity predator.
When I first started researching him, I found little toxic gems on his website, PimpingMyGame.com, that were ludicrous. : “DEVELOP PANTY-DROPPING MASCULINITY WITH THIS ROCK-SOLID STRUCTURE TO SELF-GENERATE THE POWERFUL EMOTIONS GIRLS CRAVE.” Who the hell talks like that?
But a part of me wasn’t laughing. This is an organized group of men who band together and teach other men how to assault women. There will be no accountability through RSD. Julien has too many fanboys in his community.
When I first started this, I had almost no strategy; I just threw things and hoped they stuck. I knew he was going to Tokyo. I called the Japanese Embassy, reported him, wrote to the press, did the hashtag thing, started a change.org petition.
I’m not a journalist but I did my best to investigate him. I looked through this Twitter feed @RSDJulien, retweeted some of his tweets to expose him, including the Domestic Violence wheel and choking one. (His Twitter account has since been removed).
I caught the eye of Anonymous and Jake Adelstein around that time (November 2nd). I was already organizing with a bunch of folks, including some people in Australia, and I decided to drop that video into the Global Asians group that my (Japanese-American) friend Mandy is part of too. The ladies there started organizing right away; writing press releases on their own. They also lurked in the forums and started saving a lot of RSD stuff—before they could take it down.
Thanks to someone in Australia, we found out that he was hosting his seminar in the Como Melbourne, which is how I started the first petition. It worked.
Anonymous helped find his Eventbrite page, so I tacked on the Hilton Garden Inn and the Courtyard Seattle onto there. The Hilton Garden Inn Austin cancelled pretty quickly. The Courtyard Marriott did not have a large social media presence, so I had to personally call them five times before they got the idea and cancelled his event. Eventbrite pulled after that, and so did AWeber. After Eventbrite pulled, though, it was very hard to find the next venue location. The Mercure Brisbane victory was all Aussies; I didn’t even know he was being hosted there.
I disseminated the information, and the same applied to the St. Kilda location. The protest was organized by Aussies. I forwarded people to that Facebook page, but they did all of the work.
While I didn’t have a set strategy when I first started, I gained my footing once the movement started growing organically. I would target private venues that were hosting him, and try to cut off the hosting for their online propaganda.
I got people in touch with one another; I realized that people were passionate about this and were prepared to do what they had to do to take RSD down, and my job was to de-duplicate their work and get folks who were dong similar things in touch with each other. I publicized relevant information that I had without jeopardizing whoever was organizing so people could build on the momentum. I made sure to only promote information that I thought was accurate; I did not want to discredit all our hard work by sending people to fake RSD accounts or waste their time on wild good chases.
There were people who had known about Julien Blanc before, and already had messages he had sent them and I promoted their stuff without disclosing their identities. By Saturday Nov. 8, I was pretty burned out and had no sleep (thanks to the Australia/ Washington DC/Japan time difference) and Julien Blanc was deported. Japan is already organizing on its own ban, as is Canada, London, the UK, and Brazil. This has become bigger than me; it’s become a global movement.
There’s always the argument that you shouldn’t feed the trolls—that by giving them attention you make the problem worse. That’s bullshit. You can’t solve problems by ignoring them.
The only way to take someone like him down is public shame. It’s to show that anyone associated with such a person and their organization like this is tarnishing their own name. I know this is giving him more publicity. Hopefully it’s the type of publicity that will shut down sadistic, hurtful and deceptive sociopaths like Julien Blanc and poisonous organizations like RSD down. This Asian girl is tired of this type of crap.
I’m not tired of it because I’m “Asian” either. I’m tired of it because I’m a woman. I can’t stand by and watch women being hurt by men like this.
RSD and Julien are on the defense; many of the videos I have watched are now taken down and made private, and RSD has had to shift servers to Liquid Web, who we are also petitioning. Something has obviously stuck. We have been able to shut down RSD’s events in Melbourne, Brisbane, Austin, and Seattle, and gotten Eventbrite to stop hosting their events, and had AWeber and Rackspace to stop hosting their content.
There isn’t any fight, even for a just cause, without some collateral damage. There are fans of Julien who have dug into my personal life, pulled up my writings, my on-line profile, and taken things I’ve said out of context. I’ve been accused of being a racist and hating white people, especially men. They try to troll me.
I understand how that works. When people don’t like the message, they attack the messenger.
This shouldn’t be about me—it should be about whether it’s okay for men to deceive, harass, hurt and/or physically assault women for their amusement.
It’s not.
I don’t hate anyone because of their gender or race. I do strongly dislike men who hurt women for their own amusement and spread that message of schadenfreude to other men. And I do strongly dislike white people who think it’s ok to treat someone of a different race in a derogatory manner because they think they will get away with it. It’s a toxic cycle and I hope that I’ve helped raise awareness of it.
I don’t think the entire PUA (Pick Up Artist) community are bad guys. I think it’s sad that they seem to only be interested for women as targets for their sexual conquest and not in achieving any kind of real, caring and lasting relationship.
This isn’t my life work, but I wanted to stand up for what was right and for the rights of women to be free from harassment and violence.
I will still be active in the social justice movement but I may no longer be leading the fight against Julien Blanc, RSD, and their ilk. It’s time for me to step back a bit; I’ve already done my part. People have gotten my message on RSD and Julien Blanc. The people of Brazil, the UK, Japan, and Canada know best how to handle the RSD situation in their countries. This movement has very capable people. I will continue cheering the people who continue what I’ve started. I’m not planning to lead the movement globally anymore. I’m tempted to leave everything in the hands of the community but people are saying I should petition Nevada Secretary of State about the RSD business license and I do live in the United States. Duty calls. I want to say thank you to everyone who took up the cause, everyone who supported me so far.
We made a difference. We are making a difference.
PIKA-PEE
We don’t even think that’s a Pokemon character.
u r so dumb y r u still alive?
PIKACHU!!!!
It would be funnier if you had the guts to use your real name and email! Dweeb!
Pikachu?! I mean seriously? Who the F falls for that nowadays?! Women don’t even find that funny =/
The original post had been edited because it comes close to doxxing. Doxxing as defined by the urban dictionary is: a technique of tracing someone or gather information about an individual using sources on the internet. Its name is derived from “Documents” or “Docx”. Doxing method is based purely on the ability of the hacker to recognize valuable information about his target and use this information to his benefit. It is also based around the idea that, “The more you know about your target, the easier it will be to find his or her flaws”
Some of you might have heard about the Feminist Jennifer Li
She claims that she is against racism and hate speech, but let’s look at some of the things Li has posted on her twitter, tumblr and other social media sites:
As you can notice on the post from her tumblr, she says she drinks white people’s tears and does not care about it. In her twitter posts she insults authors based on their looks and hashtags ”white people ruin everything”.
In the final photo she wants Blacks and Asians to solidify, after ridiculing “white Asians” in one of her youtube videos, discrediting their opinions and accusing them “having spent too much time around white people”.
Jennifer Li also has a problem with non asians wearing asian outfits:
The double-standard showed by Jennifer Li leads to questions about her motives. All though portraying herself as a white knight, being perceived as fighting for justice, it is obvious that her view of justice does not involve everyone equally, in spite of equality being a basic humanitarian pillar.
It is also questionable what the real motives of a person are who has been calling herself “Aggressive Asian” (on twitter) and who has been displaying these amounts of hate and aggression herself.
Further is it questionable, whether someone with the shown opinions is justifiable ●●●● in Washington, who was informed about our concerns as well.
Mark,we know about this stuff.
Jennifer Li is making a polemic and that she’s been snarky but not serious. I think her comments are taken out of context. She has an acerbic sense of humour. She has been extremely considerate in her campaign to spare others from harm and I think your posting her place of work is not helpful and possibly malicious.
A polemic is defined as follows:
-“a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something: his polemic against the cultural relativism of the sixties | a writer of feminist polemic.
• (usu. polemics) the art or practice of engaging in controversial debate or dispute: the history of science has become embroiled in religious polemics.
@ Mark, Would you stop crying? Get a life & move on. It’s trolls like you that make this world an ugly place! SERIOUSLY!
Hahahahahahahaha. “A White Knight?” Given Li’s takedowns of White supremacy, that is a hilariously tone-deaf phrase.
Also, let’s be honest – white people do ruin everything! But let’s try to stop instead of demanding that we be allowed to wear “asian outfits,” you weirdo.
Sincerely,
A White Woman
Are you ironically attacking the messenger to prove the point made above?
Mark, it’s so easy to attack Jennifer Li personally… regardless of how much ‘truth’ there is to your accusations (whether she is being snarky or actually has some bias– but duh, don’t we all– is less important)… what is true is Blanc’s behavior (spelled out loud in clear in his video) is inappropriate. I personally find it less important that she is not 100% neutral towards all beings (that might be more relevant if we’re talking about a minor offense, however, you have all the evidence you need in the video of Blanc). Her actions are commendable– to bring to public awareness his harmful behavior. this isn’t just one douchbag… this is a douchbag training men how to be douchbags on a grand scale. however, thanks to her hard work, these women have more information. no longer hold all the burden to defend themselves, and can make a better choice.
sadly those that standup to injustice often get punished over those who remain silent… i hope as a community we can offer Jennifer the support and gratitude for what the has done… and give her a break/rest, and continue that work ourselves, everyday
if after watching that video of Blanc, you don’t agree that he’s causing harm or still prefer to focus on attacking Jennifer’s personal characteristics, then i would likely question YOUR character and sentiment towards women… hmmm.
Mark – I don’t care what Jennifer’s views are as long as she does not go out and teach other people for money how to hurt. I don’t even care what Julian’s views are. He would be no different than a million middle aged sex pests doing his thing in the privacy of his own life to women who are too stupid to know better than to stay clear of him. What I think makes the campaign important is the need to shut down his business – ie. the propagation of his so-called “techniques” to (equally stupid sex pest) men. Julian’s garbage does not belong on a public or legitimate platform. Jennifer and Julian (and you) can have whatever opinions they like – turning thoughts into actions and inciting others to do the same – is where the problem lies.
Couldn’t agree with you more Stefanie. And the fact that they’re making profit out of this is really appalling!!
This is really well said, RR. We must all support Jennifer, who deserves some rest after all her excellent work.
Jennifer Li is a SJW and not even a real feminist. She’s just all about public posture and to score as many validation points as possible. She, like many of her sort, isn’t even a real feminist, she is as I wrote already nothing to do with the welfare of women and everything to do with the personal neurosis of stupid women.
You know what fake name dude. Social Justice Warriors are great people because they give a fuck about the world. What have you done to make the world a better place?
Couldn’t agree more. She is a confirmed racist. What I find interesting is that Jennifer Li is Chinese and as a culture they are historically totalitarian. It is a shame that she is attempting to replicate that culture of persecution here in the U.S. I prefer the European culture of freedom to a Chinese culture.
Timmy, that may be the most racist statement posted here yet. “Culture of persecution.” Holy Buddha. “Jenn Li, the cultural revolution & yellow peril in human form come to destroy our western white freedom”
@Tim
In case English is NOT your first language, a “racist” is defined as “a person who believes that a particular race is superior to another.” And NOWHERE in this article or in her other social media profiles does she say that she thinks the Chinese are a superior race to all other races. You might want to take off your racist goggles and re-read the article.
On another note, you’ve obviously never truly interacted or had a Chinese friend to understand that the majority of citizens in China strongly dislike the totalitarian system imposed by their government (a government they cannot democratically elect). To read that you think Jenn is trying to replicate the culture of persecution in the US leaves me dumbfounded.
Well the moderators choose to edit my comments because like all these sites they believe that there can be no disagreement to their orthodoxy. So allowing responses to my post without allowing me to respond is how would you say… unsporting?
It’s true–we’re not sporting. But it isn’t a game and the suggestion that Ms.Li is a personification of Chinese totalitarian rule is a low-ball. She’s someone who doesn’t feel that women should be abused or cruelly used for the amusement of socially dysfunctional men and the issue isn’t about the messenger–it’s the message. Is what Julien Blanc doing socially acceptable, harmful or helpful, legal or illegal, or kind or cruel? And the answer we think to that is: no.
You moderators should be ashamed of yourselves. Nothing but a bunch of propagandists. This site is no longer worthy of comment.
Thank you for commenting on our unworthy site nonetheless.
Jennifer Li claims above, “I don’t hate anyone because of their gender or race”, but her Twitter feed tells a different story. In a number of tweets, which have been preserved (see links below), she used derogatory hashtags such as #whitepeopleruineverything and #whiteculture. Does she dislike white people and believe they are fair targets for reverse racism? The campaign against the tactics taught by RSD and Julien Blanc is commendable. No company should be allowed to promote abuse as a business model. However, I can’t help but wonder this wasn’t partially motivated by Jennifer Li’s bias against Julien and RSD because she doesn’t like white people?
I think you’re taking things out of context. I don’t find any real evidence of her being racist–although some may find her sense of humour offensive. It’s a little like me being Jewish and making Jewish jokes. About that level. I believe that in most of the posts you cited Jennifer Li is making a polemic and that she’s been snarky but not serious. Polemics are by nature often offensive and provocative.
A polemic is defined as follows:
-“a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something: his polemic against the cultural relativism of the sixties | a writer of feminist polemic.
• (usu. polemics) the art or practice of engaging in controversial debate or dispute: the history of science has become embroiled in religious polemics.
This is nothing but an ad hominem attack. None of these complaints about Li (even if they were true, which I do not think they are) have anything to do with her arguments against Julien. All of the behavior she speaks about is well documented and there is no question of it’s authenticity.
All you are doing is trying to take the heat off him by putting it on her. It won’t work.
Thank you for pointing that out! “Ad hominem attack.” And a dose of “whataboutism”. For people too busy to look it up in wikipedia: An ad hominem (Latin for “to the man” or “to the person”[1]), short for argumentum ad hominem, is a form of criticism directed at something about the person one is criticizing, rather than something (potentially, at least) independent of that person. When used inappropriately, it is a fallacy in which a claim or argument is dismissed on the basis of some irrelevant fact or supposition about the author or the person being criticized.[2] Ad hominem reasoning is not always fallacious, for example, when it relates to the credibility of statements of fact or when used in certain kinds of moral and practical reasoning.[3]
You are so awesome! Thank you for your hard work! Women everywhere say thank you!
Hey, men too. We don’t want to be associated with this kind of trash.
I feel the need to reply to every comment and say fuck y’all
That’s not conducive to a civilized conversation, Mr. Smith.
@subcultureist: That is an interesting interpretation. So are we to understand that it is acceptable to express racist attitudes if they are done using a snarky, contrarian manner? Would Jennifer Li care to comment, if she is reading this, to clarify what she meant by posting those tweets? For someone who writes that she doesn’t hate anyone because of their gender or race, it would be highly incongruous to post statements like that even in a joking manner. What if Julien Blanc and others like him argued that the misogynistic statements they make are just a polemic mocking traditional, chauvinistic attitudes and they are being taken out of context?
Nope–that’s not what’s being said. I think the problem with Julien’s misogynistic statements is that they are backed up by his own video of him grabbing women’s heads and forcing their faces into his crotch and assaulting a clearly upset convenience store clerk. If video surfaces of Ms.Li indiscriminately beating up white guys with a baseball bat–then I suppose we should assume she wasn’t joking.
people salty and calling ‘reverse-racism’ but that doesn’t exist. people salty because people of color are salty about white people, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
What does this have to do with sexual predators? Nothing. How about we focus on getting rid of gross people instead of worrying about things that aren’t real
We don’t care what you tell us about Jennifer Li. We love her for cracking open this rotten egg at the expense if her own privacy and perhaps even safety. Say what you will. I didn’t even read it because I read her article and have seen her achievements and respect the crap out of her. and I am white, female, living in Japan. For what it is worth. I tip my imaginary hat to this wonderful woman. And I raise my middle finger to all you haters. We have her back, and we are stronger, smarter, and better than you.
The fedora is strong with this one
Jennifer Li, you are a true hero of modern time.
Your courage is amazing!
Best wishes
Johan
Thank you for all this and alerting the world to this promotion of abuse.
Thanks so much for what you have done! Great job!
To all of you; I admire Jennifer Li. She ‘ROCKS’ & hey, if she has reason to hate on white people ever now & again, leave her be. I’m Native American, look like Casper & it hurts my feelings…NADA! She should be commended & deserves a few kind words. Being a survivor of a horrific, violent, sexual crime, I cannot praise her enough. The lady, along with a few more took this vile, corrupt, poor excuse of a man & SHUT HIM DOWN! @Mark, It matters not what paths were followed, what matters is his ability to infect minds is OVER! She never claimed to be Mother Theresa nor does she paint a perfect portrait of herself. She is human & if any of you can honestly say you have never made ‘those type of remarks’ your either the FIRST PERFECT HUMAN that ever lived or your a liar! It’s people with these type ‘attitudes’ that make others say the things they do. In your lifetime you have enjoyed music, a book, a movie, a piece of art…there has been something in all of our lives we have taken part in that was done by someone with yuk in their make up. Give credit where credit is due! There is no doubt in my mind that she saved many women by ‘making a stand’ for noticing what so many missed. It took courage to do what she done. Jenn….YOU ROCK CHICA & THIS IS ONE WHITE GIRL THAT YOU WOULD BEFRIEND!!! lol (white ppl piss me off on occasion too! lol) Thank you for caring. Thank you from all the survivors that are often haunted by their trauma & the thought that sick, twisted jerks like this exist! Your my HERO!!!!! Sincerely, Terry Rains
Well said!
Survivors deserve the best. Go well.
I went into central London last night to meet an old friend from our time in Japan. As I walked into the pub, I saw the Julien Blanc video playing on the TV. It was just the end of a report on the issue and I don’t remember the channel, but the thing that struck me is how this story has grown to the point of being picked up by mainstream media. Jenn Li (and to an extent, this website) made that happen.
It may be a coincidence that the “Dapper Laughs” TV show has been canceled here in the UK and its “comedian” star Daniel O’Reilly vilified, but the parallels with RSD/Blanc are clear. It has strong similarities to RSD and its message and O’Reilly pathetic non-apology on the BBC and his self-portrayal as some sort of misunderstood victim rings similar to some of the justifications I’ve heard about Blanc.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/nov/12/pua-pick-up-artists-julien-blanc-dapper-laughs
I just hope this isn’t some sort of 15-minute issue and that it leads to a change in attitude of at least a few misguided “lads.”
You see that group of men in the room? Those were his replacements.
Julien already has rebooked his venue locations and contracted a new payment processor. Rather then do any actual change, you drove his activities underground. He is now charging more due to the higher demand from the free publicity. On top of that, you now have to be one of the “In” crowd to get information. By celebrating and championing another racist, you have all raised another higher on the ladder of success and also made it harder for actual activists to accomplish their goals.
Thank you Tumblr armchair internet activists, you have put real activists work back by another 10 years.
Nobody celebrated him and he is highly unlikely to continue as before. Time will tell if you were right or not, but doing nothing simply condoning the action. Then nothing improves.
Whether or not Julien moved things underground, his “followers” now see that society is stepping up and demonizing this kind of behaviour. Now, do you really think his students are going to go out and apply those tactics?
Thank you so much for all of your hard work on this campaign, Jennifer. You did an amazing job getting this off the ground, starting from almost nothing. It’s obvious how much of an effect you’ve had even just from the angry comments from misguided men on this post (well, calling them “misguided” is me being very polite about it).
As a white person in Japan, I recognize that white privilege exists and I take no offense at phrases like “white tears” that make fun of a social dynamic that shouldn’t exist in the first place. (Sometimes maybe those phrases do give the racists and misogynists a way to derail the conversation, but that’s a separate question.) It’s pathetic all these angry white dudes who are apparently so hurt and offended by the “white tears” joke, but have nothing to say about a white man who publicly advocates sexual violence against Japanese women. Just disgusting.
Being an asian woman I can very well understand, what Jenni felt when she was confronted with RSD and Julien Blanc. Because I felt the same when it caught my attention, and it went worse when I became aware if the details of their business ..
Dating advice is one thing,
Teaching how to sexually violate people is another, it is simply put planing of criminal actions.
And looking at some of the comments here reminds me how big the probkem is, how much support thus ‘business’ has, the same copy and paste messages apear all over the Internet . RSD is doing all they can to protect what they see as their business. But we will not back down, we fight for our simple rights to be treated as human beings, their financial resources will be depleted at some point, we dont need financial resources, we are not slaves.
Mononofu no
Tateki kokoro ni kurabureba
kazu nimo iranu
wagami nagaramo
well-spoken.
Stfu PIKACHU!
Your email is “fagbash” & your comment inane. I’m only leaving this comment up here so that you know it was read and we had our resident shaman put a curse on you for ten days. Expect terrible things until the 24th.
You’re hilarious LOL I like you =P
@Assaultfle
Yes, because you have no brains and couldn’t come up with a better argument. Thus, resorting to the only option you know – to cuss.
You are awesome!! Thank you very much for helping womem all over the world spreading the information! He’s not comming to Brazil anymore cause we did a petition here and we won :3
None of what anyone has said in the comments about the author makes Julien Blanc any less of a piece of shit. He is uniting citizens and government departments based entirely on what a piece of shit he is, as evidenced by the things he has said and done in front of a camera
Needless to say if she is a racist sexist etc, i need to stress that i am against men who use violence to subdue women. No matter what race or skin that man is. So if jennifer is campaigning to chase this guy out of australia to defend our morality, then she did a good job. Case closed.
my question is, where is the outrage from japanese women? oh, yeh, i forgot, they’re too busy being passive, pusillanimous, purile and kawaii.
Stefhen-san,
You’re over generalizing. Not ALL Japanese women put up with this crap.
@stefhen
Also, just to point out (because you’re obviously too simple-minded), this article is written in English and most Japanese people are illiterate in English. If this page was in Japanese, I bet there’d be an outcry.
Abusers calculatedly choose women whom they know won’t fight back. Do you think Julien would approach someone like my friend Yoko for example? A girl who lived in Belfast for five years, is utterly confident of herself, and is as tough as nails? Pffft. He’d get the shit knocked out of him, and he knows that.
In fact, I have little doubt that some of the women he assaulted in that video DID scream, yell, kick, or hit out at him, but of course, that would ruin the impression he’s trying to create that his methods always work, so he would have edited that out.
Finally, the way those girls reacted had nothing to do with nationality, because freezing in shock is an entirely natural thing to do when someone is assaulted. It’s an effect documented in psychology, and effects men and women equally. You making light of that, making FUN of them, just shows what a vile human being you are.
What if that had been your sister, mother, female friend? Would you be telling them this?
I think Jennifer probably DOES have a little hate .. or envy.. maybe?.. all mixed up… towards whites and white men… maybe? my opinion.
BUT regarding this issue she is spot on. I watched the video and Julien Blanc to me seems pathetic. Creepy. Clueless. An insult to women? Nah. An insult to men. He doesn’t get that he’s molesting that conbini girl? I see it. Look, the way he talks, what he is telling those hopeless shmucks about Japan… is sad, foolish, utterly pathetic. Should he make money with such creepiness? No.
He gives even pickup artists a bad name. This is not the norm. He ought to come to Japan and be arrested for that convenience store molestation.
I speak as a white male and long time resident of Japan.
And Jennifer doesn’t have to be flawless to be right sometimes.
By the way, don’t you hate asians who use white names? ^_^
James or Luke
I respectfully disagree with the first statement. And the last statement: “don’t you hate asians who use white names”–I know is meant to be funny but it didn’t come across that way. However, we do appreciate you writing in. Thank you.
@James
I’m sorry but that last statement you made is one of the most ignorant things I’ve ever heard in my life. Why would you hate Asians who use white names? Reversely, why would Asians hate whites that use Asian names? This is a globalised world in case you haven’t caught on. Cities are becoming more and more multicultural. I know Caucasians that have moved, settled in Asia and adopted Asian names. Similarly, I know many Asians born and raised in the Americas that were given “white” names at birth. I’m one of them. Both my Chinese and “white” names are legal. I also know that a lot of Asians who work in international companies are actually forced to adopt a western name because it makes it easier for their managers to address them (I know, it sounds ridiculous but it’s true) and to help them fit into the company better.
I really don’t see what your problem is.
FYI, a lot of Asians have Caucasian names because they were born in a country where those names are the norm. This includes countries such as Malaysia, Philippines, and yes – Korea. Not to mention that a lot of Asians are born outside of Asia, in English speaking countries such as the US or UK.
That remark was both ignorant and racist.
It’s amazing to me that the people attacking Jennifer Li sound EXACTLY like the people from the Gamergate movement. No one can handle having their misogeny coming under fire, it seems.
Keep up the good work. This PUA deserves everything that’s coming to him. Spreading messages of violence and hate against anyone isn’t right. Kudos on all the work you’ve done so far.
You rock, sister!
THANK YOU so much Jennifer!!! You are amazing and an inspiration. Keep up the good work!!
It’s ironic that some people are making this about Jennifer, and questioning her moral background as well as her ethnic and feminist point of view. It’s not about her; it’s about a lecherous and misguided white male.
As a white male myself, I fully concur, that JB’s behaviour is abhorent, and he should not continue to be allowed to profit from it. I heard about this campaign through Facebook, and it was, and continues to be, mostly non-Asian (white) men who have been sharing links to articles and petitions against this vile excuse for a human being.
Why? Because we live, or have lived in Japan or Australia, and/or have mothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives, daughters, friends, colleagues and students who we love and respect and would take great objection to seeing them treated in such a way.
As someone who has travelled extensively, works with foreigners and has lived in Japan, breaking down cultural and sexual barriers is part of my daily life. People like JB make breaking down those barriers harder, and reinforce predjudice, stereotypes and misunderstanding, and promote fear and hatred.
So, from my position of white, male privilege, I challenge you; if you are, like me, lucky enough to born with a fair complexion and a dick, don’t abuse that good fortune, and don’t encourage others who do.
This man my skin crawl!
Thank you Jennifer for improving the quality of the entire human race, along with the internet.
I’ve one very very trivial disagreement about your “don’t feed the troll” statement. I don’t think that Julian can be qualified as a “troll”. Trolls feed of negative attention and powered by it. I don’t think that he wants your attention and would be quite happy if you stopped giving it to him. Hehe… please don’t. His followers that come after you and assholes on the thread are DEFINITELY trolls and should be ignored. Not that this has anything to do with what you’ve done or have discussed on this article.
Fight the good fight darlin!!
Wow, Mark…… good ol’ poisoning the well, eh?
Except unfortunately for you, your entire statement is not only a red herring and an attempt at character assasination, and it reveals a profound ignorance on how racism, kyriarchy and cultural appropriation work.
Also, I’m going to assume you yourself are a PUA. The whole thing is complete and total pseudoscience with zero (and I do mean ZERO) peer reviewed studies (and no, ancedotes and testimonials aren’t evidence).
Right on, Jennifer. You have my respect for your courage.
It’s an interesting coincidence that Julien Blanc is outed a few weeks after Jian Ghomeshi who practices the same sort of violent ‘courting’. Jian and Julien are soulmates.
The kind of ‘grooming’ Julien is advocating for lonely men doesn’t build self-confidence. It builds arrogance, and violence and entitlement. In fact it minimizes the chances his desperate clients will ever find a relationship. Decent men and women have called BS and turned on Jian and Julien. These two have their apologists but it’s those who have the same sort of attitude toward women.
Thank you Jenn Li. This guy made all us white guys look bad, and I am glad he is being thwarted.
yo this is some real shit!
friends and i have been targets in a different misogynist campaign thats all over the internet right now and its fucking INSPIRING to see people organize and stand up for HUMAN DECENCY.
I saw the video a while ago on twitter but ive seen a lot of PUA technique videos and had become kind of desensitized. like shit this is how it is theres nothing i can do
im happy that i was proven wrong, thanks for getting that ball rolling
Let’s get one thing straight. I think that Julian Blanc is absolute scum. That being said, I lalso agree that Jennifer Li has issues with white people, especially white men.That being said, I am very grateful to her for initiating this important movement against Julian Blanc, who is guilty not only of misogyny and assault, but of creating a more negative impression of ALL men.
I believe you’re misinformed or have misinterpreted her writing. This movement attacking Julian B. and the organisation behind him is NOT about attacking ALL MEN. Not at all. From a woman’s perspective, this does not put me off from men. I do not think they’re all evil or out to hurt women. It’s only the men that display such misogynistic behaviour that makes me wary.
Good work! Carry on the fight and don’t listen to the negative comments, it’s just fear! This shit has gotten to far!
Finally someone realizes that white men just abuse their privileges. Jennifer Li I thank you for pointing this out and I hope that more asian women like yourself realize this. I also hope that people realize the brain washing that is being done to women who watches tv show and hollywood movies. yup too many white lead characters…. so it makes perfect sense to exploit it, but we all know that the media here is racist. Funny thing is I went to scope out to see the Pickup Community, but what I saw just horrified me and yes it was another white male teaching it.
Please really, you folks can keep up with this ridiculous crap. Us adults will start training out daughters and sons at home where it starts and belongs.
He’s a duchebag, she’s a victim still, and the lot of you are just plain laughable.
What’s also funny is how people use their hard earned education, intelligence and vocabulary to chat online when there’s tons of work to be done STILL out in the real world…
(*hint hint*) subcultureist get a life :-/
Yet you’re chatting with me on-line. 😀
Just a few opinions. And they’re worth every penny you’re paying for them.
Maybe Jennifer Li was compelled to start this campaign because she is a racist or a bigot or a man-hater or she was just in a bad mood when she saw that first video. Or maybe she started it just for the reasons she has claimed. I don’t know, but I’m curious as to why her motives would even matter here. Are the charges she levels at this guy true or not? The guy’s own videos seem to strongly indicate that she is right. I don’t see how her supposed ‘crimes’ would validate his actions.
My only disagreement is tactics. He’s getting banned in all these countries and the awareness about this guy and what he is doing is great. But might it not be better to allow him into a country like Japan (or another country) and have him under surveillance, and when he did assault someone he could be arrested and sent to prison?
I would worry that those men that are followers of this guy would somehow find this ‘cool’ that he’s not allowed into those countries, whereas they might think twice before emulating this guy if his actions land him (and possibly them) in prison.
You might get “street-cred” with your local gang for having gone to prison, but I don’t think it’s much of a selling point when your business is teaching people how to pick up women.
Getting him banned in a lot of countries is good, but he’s likely to find a country that doesn’t give a damn about any of this and he will just keep doing what he’s doing from there.
Fantastic work, Jennifer! I am awed by your achievement. You should be truly proud of your efforts
Thank you so much, Jennifer Li! Unthinkable for me, that my daughters could meet a freak like this monster. Your work shows responsibility for all other women. Carry on!
Best wishes
Jennifer – you’re an inspiration.
To all of the menz who are whining about her “racism” and her “problem with white men”, GROW UP. You live in a world where you’re at the top of the pile, and you (as a group) got there by climbing over the broken bodies of POC, women, LGB&T people, PWD etc. Are you entirely unable to take any criticism?
You’re clearly a sensitive bunch if someone using hash tags that you don’t like is enough to provoke mewls of outrage, attempts at doxxing, and racist jabs. Bless your hearts. I’m a white woman, and hash tags like #whitewomenstears or #whitepeoplesuck don’t anger me, because:
a) We do suck. We’ve got a history (and present) of colonialism, genocide, and appropriation.
b) Those tags are from people who are hurt and victimised, and they’re punching up. They don’t have the institutional power to hurt their oppressors, so they’re using social media to make the points that traditional media won’t. If that stings? Good, it should. Why not use it as a jumping off point to examine why it smarts, and start to dismantle your armour of privilege? It’s not as easy as squealing about ” reverse racism!!!!11″, but it’s more productive.
Jennifer and subcultureist – Keep up the good work!
“We do suck. We’ve got a history (and present) of colonialism, genocide, and appropriation.”
Ahhh, history.
That’s why I said “a history (and present)…” because I’m only too aware that we’re continuing merrily on our way, “liberating” countries worldwide, and abusing our power and privilege.
It’s disgusting, disgraceful and shameful, and I do all I can to oppose it. My voice doesn’t count for much, but I’ll keep shouting.
[…] Writing in Japansubculture, Li said: “I was outraged, with him especially. How dare he violate these Japanese women’s spaces! How dare he pass on his disgusting views and methods onto other men! This guy was in essence, assaulting women and getting away with it. And not just getting away with it — he was REWARDED for it. I could not believe that he could go about doing this without consequences.” […]
Thanks for the link.
For fucks sake, there’s more important issues at hand. I’ve known this company for a while. They’re nerds teaching nerds. They’re not sexually assaulting women. This guy puts his hand around SOME women’s throats, but it’s playful domination. There’s a reason 50 SHADES OF GREY is such a big seller. THE BOOK ABOUT A MAN COMPLETELY DOMINATING AND CONTROLLING A WOMAN. MANY women get off on this.
As far as putting women’s heads in his crotch. He did that at a club. Clubs are like Vegas. Things work differently in that environment.
Say what you want about him, but the reality is you’re focusing a long hatred of being objectified and feeling mistreated onto this guy. No one even asked the question….do his methods WORK? As crazy as they may, have any of you tried CHALLENGING HIM ON TV TO SEE IF HIS METHODS WORK? The fact is, if his method’s work, as messed up as they may, who are you to say he can’t teach them?
The fact is, you’re all focused on a problem, but not a solution. The girl who started this is less than attractive and started this at 1 am on a SATURDAY. I don’t say this to be rude, but that says something.
Fact is, A LOT of women get off on this playful domination. I do it with my girlfriends all the time. Playfully choking them, pulling their hair etc. It’s a all a matter of whether this type of women enjoys that and if you’re the type of guy who can pull it off. There’s a video of him even teaching men how to read a women’s signals on whether to back for or not. HE TEACHES MEN WHEN TO BACK OFF.
On a certain level, all you women are SLUT SHAMING the women who enjoy this behavior. Just because you don’t enjoy this behavior or feel you wouldn’t doesn’t mean other women don’t.Again, THERES A REASON 50 SHADES OF GREY WAS A NUMBER ONE SELLER.
There are so many more awful men in this world, and this man is being called the most hated man in the world. Yes, he’s a bit pathetic and disgusting, but for fucks sake, he’s not that bad. He’s a man who posted things for shock value and you all blew it completely out of proportion.
The REAL SEXUAL PREDATOR’S ARE NOT ATTENDING THESE EVENT’S. THE GUYS WHO ATTEND THESE ARE SHY AND SOCIALLY AWKWARD. THEY BARELY HAVE THE BALLS TO APPROACH A WOMEN, LET ALONE CHOKE HER. DO YOUR RESEARCH.
” The girl who started this is less than attractive and started this at 1 am on a SATURDAY. I don’t say this to be rude, but that says something.”—
That sort of summarises you ad hominem argument here. First of all, it’s the message not the messenger. And if you’re a man that finds intelligent women and humour attractive–she’s a knockout. Women are more than big boobs and whatever superficial appearance it is that you find important.
Secondly, insomnia isn’t a sign of anything other than an active mind.
Do his methods work? Who knows. Show me stats. And if they do work, are they any less harmful?
Women are people—and using false pretences, manipulation, illegal actions and lies to get them to be a sexual conquest isn’t very nice. What excites people in the bedroom with mutual consent isn’t the issue here. It’s behavior that is tantamount to sexual assault and demeaning to women.
I’m glad you have “girlfriends” that put up with you.
[…] Writing in Japansubculture, Li said: “I was outraged, with him especially. How dare he violate these Japanese women’s spaces! How dare he pass on his disgusting views and methods onto other men! This guy was in essence, assaulting women and getting away with it. And not just getting away with it — he was REWARDED for it. I could not believe that he could go about doing this without consequences.” […]
Editor’s note–A stealthy defense of Julien Blanc.
He almost seems likeable.
REVEALED – The Disgusting Truth about Julien Blanc – What nobody wanted you to know in link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS360836BGc#t=555
Nice try!
[…] Writing in Japansubculture, Li said: “I was outraged, with him especially. How dare he violate these Japanese women’s spaces! How dare he pass on his disgusting views and methods onto other men! This guy was in essence, assaulting women and getting away with it. And not just getting away with it — he was REWARDED for it. I could not believe that he could go about doing this without consequences.” […]
[…] Writing in Japansubculture, Li said: “I was outraged, with him especially. How dare he violate these Japanese women’s spaces! How dare he pass on his disgusting views and methods onto other men! This guy was in essence, assaulting women and getting away with it. And not just getting away with it — he was REWARDED for it. I could not believe that he could go about doing this without consequences.” […]
He provokes me, baits me, twists my words and tries to frame me for serious crimes. He wrote a torrent of defamatory tweets in November, 2013, promoting vicious sites on Facebook, WordPress, Tumblr and others devoted solely to mocking my identity and destroying my name and reputation.
The Japan Times, which has bought dozens of my feature stories since the mid-90s, employs Adelstein as a regular columnist, and allows him to accuse people of murder, stalking, collusion, smuggling of nuclear bomb-making materials and other crimes without evidence. The Japan Times, the Daily Beast, the Atlantic Wire, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ), Reporters Without Borders, and others have done nothing to stop this malicious campaign. They have rewarded Adelstein and his assistant with more work.
Adelstein, in several emails over the past two years, has demanded I fist-fight him in public. I have either ignored his taunts or replied to him in a polite, professional manner. Schaufele made similar threats to beat me up in 2007 and 2012. Adelstein’s associate, Mark Buckton, a former British soldier in Iraq, has repeatedly bullied me on Twitter and Facebook for two years.
I have also been insulted, libeled and harassed by Panasonic security engineer Ken Yasumoto-Nicolson, former Google manager Eido Inoue, videomakers “Hikosaemon” and Victor Boggio, writers Dan Ryan and Patrick Sherriff (OurManInAbiko), journalist Hiroko Tabuchi, blogger James Annan, and mysterious Japan Probe editor “James Japan”, among others. Many attack me using pseudonyms such as “VK”, “Vkay”, “Level3″, “ILikeDolphins”, “Valesius”, “jjrs”, “BWHockaday”, “Greji”, “Chokonen888″, “Yokohammer” and “Samurai Jerk”. Someone using the moniker @ThatIsBSDarling wrote dozens of sickening tweets about me in 2012 before Twitter suspended the account. Someone using the monikers @StopKInvasion and “Samscum” even threatened to kill me, saying “you paranoid schizophrenic Japanese hating freak. You deserve a bullet to the head.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: There is a rather disturbing tape of this individual, who wrote this tirade, threatening to sexual molest the children (boy and girl) of one of the people he mentions here–he left it behind on the answering machine of one of his victims. You can see why some people would have strong feelings of dislike for the individual.
Here’s a sample of threats he’s made to other journalists in the past, before he got smarter. If you read to the end, you’ll see why we at JSRC find him disturbing.
“You aren’t the asshole Tom Faubert who smashed my brother’s head against the grocery store wall, and beat up my father in front of my mother and sister across the street from our house, and then laughed at my little brother in the court house. You aren’t the crackhead who shot my uncle Don in the head in Detroit. You aren’t the home invader who murdered my brother’s drummer in his house in Austin this Christmas. You aren’t the gang that strangled me and beat me unconscious and broke my nose and ribs and left me naked in a park to die in Nairobi, or the jerks who mugged me at knifepoint in Rio de Janeiro. You aren’t the Chetniks who severed the head of my roommate Christian Wurtenburg in Vukovar. You aren’t Khaled Sheikh Mohammed who cut up Daniel Pearl like a goat a few weeks after we had Thanksgiving dinner in Islamabad. You aren’t the Taliban motherfuckers who murdered Harry Burton and raped and killed the women in the van in Afghanistan. And you aren’t the gunmen who shot Nelson Rand three times last year when we were working for France 24 in Bangkok. You are a spineless sewer rat who sends a private confidential letter to my boss to shaft me out of a job worth perhaps 10,000 year or more, a job I earned while you were a driver with another network and writing an FCCJ article slagging off serious pro journalists who hired you. Where I come from, you don’t mess with a man’s car, a man’s woman, a man’s dog, or a man’s job. You go behind someone’s back, and they come knockin on your front, with a shotgun. And I suppose you’ll send this to your mommy to defend you, right?”
Tom Faubert doesn’t edit this website. You might consider that if you have so many “enemies” that you, like Julien Blanc, are probably doing things that make people dislike you.
You claim you covered immigration beat for Yomiuri? Really? Prove it. Let’s see if you are man enough to find out why police are covering up another suspicious death in detention:
http://www.centnews.com/World/Sri-Lankan-man-dies-at-Japan-immigration-centre-official/S-2014-12-02/107234.html
Japan – A Sri Lankan detainee has died after collapsing at an immigration detention centre in Japan, an official said Tuesday, the latest in a handful of similar cases, with critics accusing guards of ignoring his pleas for help.
The death of a man one rights group named as Nickeles Fernando came just two days after a government probe found there was inadequate medical care at another immigration centre, where two detainees died in March.
A spokeswoman at the Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau told AFP a detainee in his 50s had died after complaining about “a sick feeling”.
“We moved him into a solitary cell in the morning so that we would be able to observe him. Then at about 1:00 pm he stopped moving and didn’t respond to our calls.
“So we called an ambulance while giving him cardiac massage,” she said, adding that he was confirmed dead by a doctor two hours later.
She denied that there was an unnecessary delay in summoning medical help, saying “we often call an ambulance if necessary”.
But rights group Provisional Release Association in Japan (PRAJ) said Fernando, 57, was ignored by guards when he asked for a doctor, citing information obtained by the dead man’s nephew and fellow detainees.
“He had begun to complain about severe chest pain at about 7:00 am on November 22, but instead of calling a doctor, immigration officials moved him into a single cell from a shared cell,” PRAJ member Hiromitsu Masuda told AFP.
“Although police are still investigating the cause of the death, to me it is nothing but a sudden death due to ignoring his condition,” he said, adding that Fernando had been subjected to “terrible treatment”.
– Autopsy –
A spokeswoman at the Tokyo Metropolitan Police said an autopsy had been carried out, but refused to reveal its findings. She did not give a clear reason for her refusal.
Fernando arrived in Japan on November 12, but was not permitted to enter the country and was sent from Tokyo’s Haneda airport to the immigration centre in the capital about a week later, Masuda said.
Two days before his death, the justice ministry admitted an immigration centre in Ushiku northeast of Tokyo “did not have enough medical” facilities as they failed to provide access to in-house doctors around the clock.
That came after it investigated the deaths of two men at the centre earlier this year.
In March, an Iranian man in his 30s choked to death on food and a Cameroonian man in his 40s was found unconscious in his cell before he died.
In October last year, an asylum-seeker — a member of Myanmar’s Rohingya ethnic group — collapsed and died after staff at the Ushiku immigration centre failed to call for a medic, allegedly because the doctor was having lunch.
Japan tightly restricts the number of immigrants and asylum-seekers it accepts.
According to Justice Ministry figures for 2013, 3,260 people applied for asylum, many from Turkey, Nepal and Myanmar, as well as countries in South Asia and Africa.
Japan accepted six refugees during the year, down from 18 in the previous year.
kh/hg/st
They’re not just covering it up—they’re not apologising for it either. Welcome to the xenophobic Abe regime.
Did you ever wonder if some girls (not you obviously) like the drama and emotion Julien gives them. He is not another plain borring emasculated wimp. Just saying not everyone is the same and not all women are like you.