Meet Steve Adler.
Steve Adler is the once civil rights lawyer and current Democratic Mayor of Austin, Texas.
He's also the guy who absolutely destroyed a sexist guy in one, super polite, letter.
We love a dressing-down swathed in decorum. It makes us feel smug.
To give a quick recap if you don't look at the internet: there's a new Wonder Woman film out, it looks awesome and already has amazing reviews, and a cinema in Austin, Texas, called the Alamo Drafthouse, has put on female-only screenings (the first sold out and they are sorting out a second now).
Obviously, men who have enjoyed successful male-led superheroes for decades are furious that the cinema is celebrating a rare female-fronted superhero film with a couple of screenings.
The cinema posted an announcement on their Facebook and there are literally hundreds of 'what would you crazy liberals think of an all men's screening' comments. Like, hundreds. So original.
One particular man, called Richard A. Ameduri, was so enraged at the thought of being excluded from one (maybe two) screenings he wrote a very strongly-worded letter to the Mayor of Austin.
Unfortunately it wasn't a handwritten letter, which would have been amazing, but an email, which laid out his particular woman-hating opinion with beautiful clarity.
The email is a fascinating insight into the mind of a very tiny man. Usually one would need a microscope to see such a little brain, but thankfully, Mayor Adler posted it on his website so lady eyes could also see it:
I hope every man will boycott Austin and do what he can to diminish Austin and to cause damage to the city's image. The theater that pandered to the sexism typical of women will, I hope, regret it's decision. The notion of a woman hero is a fine example of women's eagerness to accept the appearance of achievement without actual achievement. Women learn from an early age to value make-up, that it's OK to pretend that you are greater than you actually are. Women pretend they do not know that only men serve in combat because they are content to have an easier ride. Women gladly accept gold medals at the Olympics for coming in 10th and competing only against the second class of athletes. Name something invented by a woman! Achievements by the second rate gender pale in comparison to virtually everything great in human history was accomplished by men, not women. If Austin does not host a men only counter event, I will never visit Austin and will welcome it's deteriorati on. And I will not forget that Austin is best known for Charles Whitman. Does Austin stand for gender equality or for kissing up to women? Don't bother to respond. I already know the answer. I do not hate women. I hate their rampant hypocrisy and the hypocrisy of the 'women's movement.' Women do not want gender equality; they want more for women. Don't bother to respond because I am sure your cowardice will generate nothing worth reading. – Richard A. Ameduri
What is amazing about this letter, is that Dick honestly doesn't seem to understand how Gold Medals work, or how to google 'female inventions' and has never seen a woman in any sort of army clothing. Fascinating.
Thankfully, Steve Adler did 'bother to respond' in the. Best. Way. Ever. And posted his response for our delectation:
Dear Mr. Ameduri, I am writing to alert you that your email account has been hacked by an unfortunate and unusually hostile individual. Please remedy your account's security right away, lest this person's uninformed and sexist rantings give you a bad name. After all, we men have to look out for each other! Can you imagine if someone thought that you didn't know women could serve in our combat units now without exclusion? What if someone thought you didn't know that women invented medical syringes, life rafts, fire escapes, central and solar heating, a war-time communications system for radio-controlling torpedoes that laid the technological foundations for everything from Wi-Fi to GPS, and beer? And I hesitate to imagine how embarrassed you'd be if someone thought you were upset that a private business was realizing a business opportunity by reserving one screening this weekend for women to see a superhero movie. You and I are serious men of substance with little time for the delicate sensitivities displayed by the pitiful creature who maligned your good name and sterling character by writing that abysmal email. I trust the news that your email account has been hacked does not cause you undue alarm and wish you well in securing your account. And in the future, should your travels take you to Austin, please know that everyone is welcome here, even people like those who wrote that email whose views are an embarrassment to modernity, decency, and common sense. Yours sincerely, Steve Adler
This Austin local screenshotted the letters and posted them on Twitter. The post has garnered 23k likes and 13k retweets so far.
Steve, we salute you.
Daisy Murray is the Digital Fashion Editor at ELLE UK, spotlighting emerging designers, sustainable shopping, and celebrity style. Since joining in 2016 as an editorial intern, Daisy has run the gamut of fashion journalism - interviewing Molly Goddard backstage at London Fashion Week, investigating the power of androgynous dressing and celebrating the joys of vintage shopping.
