Of course not. He can write whatever the hell he wants. He can accept comments or he can choose to turn comments off for this or all his articles. As they say, it’s a free country. He’s got the same rights and responsibilities as every other writer and Medium member. He can be inclusive or not. His choice.
Didn’t say otherwise.
That said, he left his comments option open which gives me and everyone else the right to respond however we feel about his article. Presumably he wanted feedback or he would.have turned them off like a normal person.
Sorry, there is no option for praise only and no one should want that as it’s disingenuous.
My particular feedback is, "Dude, this is incredibly tone deaf. Haven’t you been paying attention? You’re going to have very little luck asking women to help you feel less lonely under the promise of reciprocity when men (with exception) have ignored several opportunities to pay it forward over the last several years.
After all of that, and what did actually fill those spaces, men have lost any high ground or credibility to ask for blind trust at this juncture. It’s gone. It’s not coming back without some fucking recognition that they dropped the ball, some sincere apologies, work, and follow up from men beforehand. Women would be crazy to just take men at their word on this.
Failure to 'read the room' and recognize that fact is what made it tone deaf and arrogant.
There will always be a few women who will simper, apologize, and appease the male ego. That’s not really about the men though, it’s some kind of martyr complex going on within the woman. Taking on the brunt of all their negative feelings does not help the man. It infantalizes him and keeps him emotionally stunted and dependent. Until men stop shutting out and shutting down the full breadth of human emotion and experience they’re always going to wind up feeling sad, lonely, and enraged.
Every time.
Sooner or later, it will just all boil over. When it does, women will be beaten. Women will be raped. And women will be killed.
I choose to put my time, energy, and resources where it will make a difference. With women.
But you do you. Free country.
