The so-called "me too" movement is, essentially, a social movement that encourages women who have been sexually harassed in some way, especially at their workplace, to come forward and not be too afraid and intimidated into remain silent about it.
Because this movement is seen as (and for large part outright is) part of the current social justice ideology movement, and because it has resulted in so many high-profile abuses and false accusations, and because the anti-SJW skeptics have been talking against it so much, it's very tempting to swing to the opposite extreme and put oneself into an extreme contrarian position where one thinks it's all just hogwash and just another ploy by the SJWs to gain power, and to dismiss all of it outright.
However, the situation is more complicated and nuanced than that.
It would be naive to think that sexual abuse of women at the workplace, by co-workers or bosses, is extraordinarily rare and almost never happens. It shouldn't be hugely controversial to admit that yes, it does happen, in amounts that are too high for comfort. Of course it's impossible to know how much it happens, but I think it's safe to say that it does happen with a frequency that's higher than "extraordinarily rarely".
When exposed to so much SJW and anti-SJW rhetoric it's also easy to dismiss "milder" forms of sexual abuse as inconsequential and exaggerated. However, one should be ready to admit that certain behaviors are out of line and inappropriate. As a man, I believe in gentlemanly behavior towards women, and thus certain standards of behavior and respect. I would never make sexually suggestive remarks to a woman in a completely inappropriate situation. I would most certainly never touch a woman in a sexual way in an inappropriate situation. I would certainly not touch a woman at all if it's inappropriate (eg. in situations other than eg. shaking hands in situations where that's customary.) That's most certainly not how a gentleman behaves. I think there's huge value in traditional gentlemanly behavior and customs.
Inappropriate language and touching does happen out there, in the real world, at workplaces, by co-workers and bosses. It's impossible to say how frequent and widespread it is, but it certainly does happen, and it's not something that should be tolerated. It indeed is something that should be solved, if we can come up with a proper solution.
Of course there's the other side of the coin: Also false accusations do happen. Women can be vindictive and outright evil. Not all women are angelic perfect beings. Likewise misunderstandings do happen. People get confused and mistaken all the time about things that other people are saying to them. You wouldn't believe how many times I have found out that somebody has misunderstood what I have said to them (luckily never in any way related to sexual things, but many other more minor things.) Although I suppose you probably do believe it, because it's likely you have experienced it too: You socially interact with someone, and then later, perhaps much later, by pure happenstance you find out that the other person completely misunderstood what you said or intended to say, and eg. got offended or otherwise got the completely wrong impression of your opinions or whatever else. (I have also witnessed this as an outsider, where someone misunderstands what someone else said. I have sometimes even got to correct the misunderstanding.)
There's also the undeniable phenomenon that when proper legal procedure is skipped, and people get condemned based on mere accusations without proper evidence (thus giving an unreasonable amount of power to the accuser), this power will start to get abused. This has been seen time and again.
The argument that we don't need to follow proper legal procedure of "innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt" because false accusations of sexual abuse are so extraordinarily rare is the exact same fallacy as arguing that we don't need to vaccinate against measles because cases of measles are so extraordinarily rare. Cases of measles are so extraordinarily rare because of vaccination, not regardless of them. Stopping vaccination would make cases of measles sky-rocket (there are concrete real-life examples of this). In the exact same way false accusations are rare because every accusation is scrutinized in detail, not regardless of it. And in the exact same way, if the scrutiny is stopped, the number of false accusations will sky-rocket (which has likewise been demonstrated time and again in actual cases).
The main problem with the modern "me too" movement is that it's, once again, paving the road to hell with good intentions. It takes a real problem, and creates another one when trying to solve it. It induces people to go to the other extreme. When people are given power to ruin other people's lives, they will start abusing it. That's just a fact of life. It's part of the human condition. The lives of innocent people are being ruined because some people abuse the power they are granted by movements like this one.
People should not be given this kind of power. Innocent people are indeed suffering (in this case women who are being sexually abused at the workplace), but the correct solution is not to make other innocent people suffer in their place. There is no easy solution to the original problem. Any solution that's concocted should make sure that other innocent people don't suffer as a consequence. Anything that gives people undue power over others, power that can be abused, is not a very good solution. If it can be abused, it will be abused. That's just a fact of life.
Because this movement is seen as (and for large part outright is) part of the current social justice ideology movement, and because it has resulted in so many high-profile abuses and false accusations, and because the anti-SJW skeptics have been talking against it so much, it's very tempting to swing to the opposite extreme and put oneself into an extreme contrarian position where one thinks it's all just hogwash and just another ploy by the SJWs to gain power, and to dismiss all of it outright.
However, the situation is more complicated and nuanced than that.
It would be naive to think that sexual abuse of women at the workplace, by co-workers or bosses, is extraordinarily rare and almost never happens. It shouldn't be hugely controversial to admit that yes, it does happen, in amounts that are too high for comfort. Of course it's impossible to know how much it happens, but I think it's safe to say that it does happen with a frequency that's higher than "extraordinarily rarely".
When exposed to so much SJW and anti-SJW rhetoric it's also easy to dismiss "milder" forms of sexual abuse as inconsequential and exaggerated. However, one should be ready to admit that certain behaviors are out of line and inappropriate. As a man, I believe in gentlemanly behavior towards women, and thus certain standards of behavior and respect. I would never make sexually suggestive remarks to a woman in a completely inappropriate situation. I would most certainly never touch a woman in a sexual way in an inappropriate situation. I would certainly not touch a woman at all if it's inappropriate (eg. in situations other than eg. shaking hands in situations where that's customary.) That's most certainly not how a gentleman behaves. I think there's huge value in traditional gentlemanly behavior and customs.
Inappropriate language and touching does happen out there, in the real world, at workplaces, by co-workers and bosses. It's impossible to say how frequent and widespread it is, but it certainly does happen, and it's not something that should be tolerated. It indeed is something that should be solved, if we can come up with a proper solution.
Of course there's the other side of the coin: Also false accusations do happen. Women can be vindictive and outright evil. Not all women are angelic perfect beings. Likewise misunderstandings do happen. People get confused and mistaken all the time about things that other people are saying to them. You wouldn't believe how many times I have found out that somebody has misunderstood what I have said to them (luckily never in any way related to sexual things, but many other more minor things.) Although I suppose you probably do believe it, because it's likely you have experienced it too: You socially interact with someone, and then later, perhaps much later, by pure happenstance you find out that the other person completely misunderstood what you said or intended to say, and eg. got offended or otherwise got the completely wrong impression of your opinions or whatever else. (I have also witnessed this as an outsider, where someone misunderstands what someone else said. I have sometimes even got to correct the misunderstanding.)
There's also the undeniable phenomenon that when proper legal procedure is skipped, and people get condemned based on mere accusations without proper evidence (thus giving an unreasonable amount of power to the accuser), this power will start to get abused. This has been seen time and again.
The argument that we don't need to follow proper legal procedure of "innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt" because false accusations of sexual abuse are so extraordinarily rare is the exact same fallacy as arguing that we don't need to vaccinate against measles because cases of measles are so extraordinarily rare. Cases of measles are so extraordinarily rare because of vaccination, not regardless of them. Stopping vaccination would make cases of measles sky-rocket (there are concrete real-life examples of this). In the exact same way false accusations are rare because every accusation is scrutinized in detail, not regardless of it. And in the exact same way, if the scrutiny is stopped, the number of false accusations will sky-rocket (which has likewise been demonstrated time and again in actual cases).
The main problem with the modern "me too" movement is that it's, once again, paving the road to hell with good intentions. It takes a real problem, and creates another one when trying to solve it. It induces people to go to the other extreme. When people are given power to ruin other people's lives, they will start abusing it. That's just a fact of life. It's part of the human condition. The lives of innocent people are being ruined because some people abuse the power they are granted by movements like this one.
People should not be given this kind of power. Innocent people are indeed suffering (in this case women who are being sexually abused at the workplace), but the correct solution is not to make other innocent people suffer in their place. There is no easy solution to the original problem. Any solution that's concocted should make sure that other innocent people don't suffer as a consequence. Anything that gives people undue power over others, power that can be abused, is not a very good solution. If it can be abused, it will be abused. That's just a fact of life.
Comments
Post a Comment