The internet is a funny thing. And by funny, I mean truly terrifying.

For every touching story about making a child’s wish of being Batman come true, there are literally millions of hateful/idiotic comments on YouTube. Not surprisingly, YouTube isn’t the only place where these comments shine.

I recently read an article on Elite Daily titled “16 Logical Reasons Why Men Who Drink Whiskey Make The Best Lovers.” Naturally, I was curious to see how accurately the article captured my sexual prowess, but in actuality, I read it for shits and giggles. When I clicked on this link, I didn’t expect facts that were checked and double-checked by scientist at MIT or Berkeley. What I expected was an article of the buzzfeed nature. You know, like 33  Amazing Facts About Mirrors. Or 17 Reasons Slinkies Are The Best Toy Ever. Or even 21 Foods That Forgot How To Food. That last one is real. Listen, or read, whatever, articles like this are not gospel. They’re entertainment, a way to pass the time. My point is, it’s meant to be taken lightly.

I don’t think people get that.

The comments section below Elite Daily’s article was ridden with backlash. I actually laughed at how seriously some people were offended. Hell, I think I was offended by how seriously some people were offended.

That escalated quickly.

Clearly, Yonkers don’t play that shit. And neither does Brickfields Asia College, apparently. Seems that, what I thought was a harmless article, somehow insulted people who are easily insulted. The worse part about these comments isn’t even the actual comments. It’s the fact that more than 100 people agree with it. It’s all quite ridiculous.

I’m not defending the validity of this article (because, come on), but really, I’m shocked that it even needs defending. I’m almost certain that for every “Whiskey Is The Best!” article out there, there are hundreds of “You’re Cool If You Drink Beer” or “Wine, The Drink Of The Classy Gentlemen”. And it seems like one person in the comments section agrees with me.

Well that was unnecessary. Unnecessary because of course we know there’s no real reasoning to the article. I mean, do these people realise they are criticising an article on the same website that brought you Farting In Front Of Your Boyfriend Is The Key To A Great Relationship? I would like to think that the writers of these article are fully aware they’re not writing War And Peace. And people are going on there, commenting how much the writing always sucks, and for some reason still expect top-notch journalism worthy of the Pulitzer prize? Really?

Anyway, lets get to the meat of the matter: the internet loving and hating whisk(e)y. Whiskey has long been stereotyped as a “manly drink.” For better or worse (the answer is worse), this is just how society deems it. I admit, we fell victim to the stereotype when we first started. Our “About” section of this website used to be called “The Men” before we made the more sensible choice of calling it “The Architects” (which makes sense since we’re bloody architects). This stereotype runs so rampant that I guarantee you that if you type the words “whiskey” and “men” into Google, you will find no less than 6 websites geared towards how masculine it is, on the first page alone. I just did it to prove my own point and the first thing that popped up was “Real Men Drink Whisky.” So… there’s that. In fact, whiskey and masculinity has become so synonymous that women who do drink the spirit are seen as unicorns, because, how can they actually drink that stuff?

And here is where things get contradictory. Even when there’s an article about how cool women who drink whisk(e)y are, there is still backlash. Because the internet.

That second person is on the right track: don’t take the article seriously, cause it is propaganda. An article like that gets clicks. Clicks equal traffic. Traffic equals adverts. Adverts equal cash. Cash rules everything around me. Makes me think I should’ve chosen a better name for this article.

Oh well.

Back to Elite Daily.

As I continued to read the comments, I saw everything from people calling the spirit I love “urine”, to at least 3 people referring to “whisky dick” as a reason why whisky and sex don’t go together, to perhaps the best comment ever:

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this. Like everyone else, I understand that the internet is a cesspool of cats, porn, trolls and the occasional news, but that doesn’t mean I’m still not amused by what I see everyday.

Well, there wasn’t really a point to this article. Just felt like sharing my thoughts. But if I were to sum it up, regardless how the internet feels about whisk(e)y, to me, it’s still bloody delicious.

– Peat