The author is a woman whose recent articles include “To Hell With the Witch-Hunt Debate: The post-Weinstein moment isn’t a war on sex. It’s a long-overdue revolution.” Thus, her stance -- that the accusations against Ansari are a step too far are -- is surprising but worth being considered.
I think that we all must come to terms with the way that the MeToo movement has flipped sexual assault allegations from “He’s right” to “She’s right.” Should it be a permanent change? Is it equally dangerous that only women are believed? Or is it a necessary danger that must be accepted in order to put women on a more equal footing?
Personally, I believe that the MeToo movement is a necessary step, but I hope that things do eventually cool down. Women must be safe from abuse and innocent men must be safe from accusation. This is not to say that I believe that any of the men accused are innocent -- I am simply saying we must as a society weigh the possibility of persecuting the innocent as we evaluate how to move forward.
3 comments:
I completely agree with you, Michael. I consider myself to be a very vocal feminist and have taken many active steps to try to promote gender equality. I, however, become a little nervous when I see some people villainizing all men. The point of the feminist movement, as well as the MeToo movement, is to bring light to the current inequality that women have to face every single day and to spotlight how incredibly unfair that is, and hopefully at some point in the future bring about equal treatment of all genders. The point of this movement is not to say that women are better or deserve more, or even to claim that all men are disgusting. Equality is, and should always remain, the point of these movements.
I think part of what makes the "war" on sexual harassment so important, and so difficult, is that it is so hard to prove when people have been sexually harassed. Often it is simply the victim's word against the assaulter's word, and without any solid proof, it can be hard to properly carry out justice. For a long time, this meant that an insane and an unacceptable number of sexual misconduct and assault cases went unpunished. With the rise of the MeToo movement, we have begun to put more effort into holding these people accountable, so now it is time to find a way to carry out justice properly, and work towards stopping sexual misconduct altogether. I think that if either of these movements become about accusing innocent men or trying to tear all men down, I will no longer be able to give them my support.
The issues with sexual abuse and assault cases is confirming who to believe and who’s story is accurate. In most cases there are no witnesses to such incidents, therefore we can’t seek an outside source for opinions. Albeit, interviewing family members, friends, and coworkers can allow us to solidify the validity of the case based on their character testimony. Of course, if multiple accusers and witnesses have testified to sexual assault or inappropriate behavior, a conclusion can be easily made. Blindly believing the victim because they testified to being violated may leave an innocent man’s reputation, job, and life in shambles. On the other hand, questioning the validity of the incident or siding with the accused could mean that the victim’s justice was not served, and sends of a message that sexual assaulters can easily get away with their actions. In a time where reports of sexual assault and abuse have been frequently appearing on headlines, we as a society should not be quick to assume. Regardless, it is vital that we as a society establish a zero tolerance policy and environment so both men and women are ensured safety.
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