Professor Angela Washko‘s “The Game: The Game,” a video game presenting the practices of several prominent seduction coaches (aka pick-up artists) through the format of a dating simulator, is the subject of a feature in The Guardian.
Of Washko’s subject matter, Laura Hudson writes, “If these seduction tactics, which seem designed to achieve consent through persistence and manipulation, seem shocking and disturbing to those only casually aware of the PUA community, Washko says that’s because the most extreme tactics advocated by the scene’s figureheads are typically only visible to those willing to pay hundreds of dollars for their videos, or thousands of dollars for a seminar. ‘You’re not going to see the bulk of their coaching content for free,’ says Washko.
“‘But after purchasing those materials and watching the primary coaching videos, they were extraordinarily disturbing and incriminating … There’s a shocking amount of behaviour that disregards consent. It’s incredible that these videos have managed to circulate without the degree of scrutiny that they should have, and I think it’s largely because of the paywall.'”