EDIT: The title should read "*IN* the mainstream"... ughh

Here is the article: https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/j55bxd/i-tried-to-find-out-if-pick-up-artists-are-still-influential-in-2017

You know what is a VERY common reaction I get from women whom I cold approach but who aren't interested? In so many words, "Wow, keep doing this". Even if they are taken/not interested, they are wishing that experience on other women. Think about THAT. The mainstream mindset is completely at odds with what real women actually want. ("PICKUP ARTISTS = MISOGYNIST SCUM!!!" sells more, of course). To put it bluntly, women love sex and want men to be competent at seducing them. Or, less explicitly, women want a romantic/magical experience. They don't want something that is shown in rom coms, or romance novels, etc. They understand that that is just fiction, and overblown. They want an experience in real life that they know will be not as smooth, sometimes awkward, but something genuine and romantic, with all its imperfections. This is something that most men can't even begin to provide them. They can't even walk up to a woman they find attractive and say hi. Let alone lead a romantic interaction. For a man to learn this, he has to start somewhere. And that somewhere is cold approach.

Mainstream shaming only serves to keep men from developing these skills, and prevent them from gaining a better understanding of women, and also denies women of the kind of experiences they crave. I'm not saying you'll start jumping into bed with women you cold approach right away. I'm saying women will reward you for good behavior. You will start seeing what works and what doesn't and eventually get further and further into interactions until you find yourself sleeping with some of them. Will there be some women you creep out or illicit negative reactions from? For sure... When 2 strangers interact, anything can happen. To make an omelette you have to break some eggs, I guess. But overall, if you do pickup you can be proud of, everyone wins.

EDIT: One of the best reactions is one I've had recently. She was taken, and it didn't go any further, but I approached her and told her what I liked about her (a feature of hers). I then I told her that this made her absolutely gorgeous to me. This was 100% genuine on my part. This was a woman in her mid to late 30s and she lit up like a little girl. She told me that I should keep doing this and that "this has never happened to me before!", with an almost schoolgirl glee. Like I had given her an incredible gift. I will always remember this interaction, and I hope she does too.