Woke Fishing: How Liberal Men Use Feminist Rhetoric to Manipulate Women

On dating apps today, politics is as visible as height and hobbies. Filters let users screen out smokers, meat-eaters, and now, conservatives. In an increasingly ideological dating market, values aren’t just preferences. They’re prerequisites.

So what happens when someone breaks the script?

That’s what Daily Mail reporters Alexa Cimino and Will Potter set out to discover in a social experiment that’s now raising eyebrows.

They posed on dating apps in New York City—Hinge and Bumble—as singles leading with one provocative line:

“Hi, I’m MAGA.”

They expected backlash. They expected outrage. But what they got was far more revealing, and for some, disturbing.

What the MAGA Dating Test Exposed

Alexa Cimino, a female reporter, created a dating profile that reflected conservative values. She matched with roughly 80 men across political lines—conservative, liberal, and apolitical.

To all of them, she sent the same message:

“Hi, I’m MAGA.”

Only one unmatched her.

The rest? Liberal, progressive, or otherwise, kept talking. Some flirted. Some joked. Some admitted to not caring much about politics at all. A few even softened their own stated views to stay in the conversation.

In Cimino’s own words, it seemed like “being attractive was more important than being aligned.”

Will Potter’s results couldn’t have been more different.

As a man, when he sent the exact same “Hi, I’m MAGA” message to his matches—most of whom were liberal women—many immediately unmatched or expressed disgust. Conversations ended before they began.

The gender disparity was clear. Liberal men tolerated, or even welcomed, a conservative woman. Liberal women, on the other hand, drew a hard line.

And that’s where things get interesting.

Woke Fishing: When Politics Is a Pickup Line

This isn’t just a social quirk. It’s part of a growing trend. In progressive circles, political identity is a gatekeeper for intimacy. But some men have figured out how to game the system.

It’s called woke fishing.

Woke fishing is when liberal men pretend to hold feminist or progressive beliefs not out of conviction, but as a strategy to gain sexual access. It’s the ideological version of catfishing. Instead of faking your age or your photos, you fake your values.

They say all the right things:

“Toxic masculinity is the real problem.”

“I believe in dismantling the patriarchy.”

“I’m an intersectional feminist.”

But behind the ally badge is a performance. These aren’t deeply held beliefs. They’re tactical lies meant to appeal to what women want to hear.

It’s not about building a future. It’s about getting past the filter.

The Incentive Structure: Say What She Wants to Hear

In a world where women increasingly list “progressive values” and “no Trump supporters” in their bios, liberal men aren’t adapting out of principle. They’re adapting for access.

And the MAGA dating experiment confirmed this. Liberal men, even those who presumably disagreed with Alexa’s politics, were willing to flirt, engage, and even suppress their own beliefs to keep the conversation alive.

In contrast, women were far less likely to compromise their values, or even entertain a conversation, if the man was openly conservative.

This gender asymmetry creates an incentive. For men, being ideologically honest can cost you a date. So some lie.

They perform progressivism to pass. And women, assuming shared values, often let their guard down.

Why It’s Manipulative

Woke fishing isn’t a harmless tactic. It’s manipulative.

It creates a false sense of compatibility. It erodes trust. It turns progressive rhetoric into a seduction script rather than a shared worldview.

It’s emotional con artistry.

And worst of all, it uses the language of feminism and justice as camouflage for self-interest. These men aren’t trying to build equal relationships. They’re just better at wearing the costume.

The Double Standard Nobody Talks About

Imagine if a conservative man pretended to be liberal to hook up with progressive women. It would be labeled predatory, dishonest, exploitative, and rightly so.

But when liberal men fake their way into beds by posing as “feminist allies,” there’s often silence—or even subtle celebration.

Why? Because the script says they’re on the “right” side.

But deception is deception, no matter what political tribe it’s dressed in.

Conclusion: Woke Words, Old Game

The truth is simple. Many liberal men aren’t deeply committed to the values they preach. They just know those values are marketable. On dating apps, they’re filters. And if you can mimic them convincingly enough, you bypass resistance.

Woke fishing is not a rare exception. It’s a growing tactic in progressive dating spaces.

So next time someone’s profile screams “feminist,” maybe ask: Is this real conviction, or just an act?

Because beneath the allyship and buzzwords, some men are just saying what they need to say to get what they want.

And once they have it, the mask comes off.