“What a terrible indictment of the times we live in.” Those are the words of Ben de Pear, the editor of Channel 4 News, relating to the stream of misogynist abuse levelled at presenter Cathy Newman after her interview with clinical psychologist Jordan Peterson.

Channel 4 News is hiring security experts to carry out an analysis of the incident and is considering police involvement. Peterson, the Canadian professor who compared gender-neutral pronouns to the likes of Chairman Mao’s Communist China, emerged from the interview, at least to his loyal YouTube following, victorious. Twitter erupted with commentary about his genius, his calm, his quick wit. Peterson’s followers were also quick to attack Newman in a way she has described as “vicious”.

When white men feel they are losing power, any level of nastiness is possible, and much power has been ceded recently. Amid the steamrolling effect of the MeToo campaign, of the sudden dominance of gender equality in the news and amid the fall of many Great Men, here comes the whirling centre of the storm, when we have to fight harder than ever to be heard. We are in backlash season.

Jordan Peterson leaves Cathy Newman speechless in debate on transgender rights

So, for January 2018, Cathy Newman will be our fall woman. She has taken the baton from the likes of Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC reporter who hired a bodyguard, the historian Mary Beard, who questions the whitewashing of history, Labour MP Diane Abbott, who has the sheer audacity of being a black woman in public office, and Brexit campaigner Gina Miller, who dared to reinforce our democracy.

For those angry at the recent resurgence of feminism, they have had to wait for their moment. It’s not easy to defend a serial rapist, or even a one-off rapist, although some people do – let’s not forget that 63 million people recently voted for an alleged offender as President. It’s not easy to defend a sexual harasser, either, although even more people do that. But it is very easy to attack Cathy Newman, the female journalist whose male editor thought it would be a good idea to interview Jordan Peterson.

When questioned by Newman if he believed that gender equality was a myth, Peterson said only if she meant “in terms of outcomes”. There is a reason women, who tend to be “compassionate and caring”, end up as nurses and physicians, he said, while men end up as engineers. If we men and women were to sort ourselves out equally, there would be a dangerous imbalance, he believed. Newman also asked why he had the right to air his controversial views. He replied, “I’m a clinical psychologist”, with the cool calm of a cartoon villain.

Are the media and its employees innocent in this gender equality debate? Certainly not. There has been much wrong with the way the media covered the MeToo campaign: tabloids pointing to the sleazy rather than the systemic; the routine pitting of feminists against anti-feminists, as if required to “balance out the interview”; gifting airtime to the likes of Peterson or, as Channel 4 News also did, to Milo Yiannopoulos. It will get clicks, after all.

The backlash against the MeToo movement has grown since day one, but it has also been precise in its timing. As soon as the conversation evolved this month from the binary “Yes means yes and no means no”, the calls of “witchhunts” and “McCarthyism” were becoming deafening. This month has been a lucrative time for columnists, who are picking the low-hanging fruit of controversy. And even Whoopi Goldberg’s comment – “What happened to ‘Stop, I’m going to knock you in the nuts’?” is illustrative of a widening chasm, a withering patience.

Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Show all 35 1 / 35 Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Women's rights demonstrators hold placards and shout slogans during the Time's Up rally at Richmond Terrace, opposite Downing Street in London. Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London The Time's Up initiative was launched at the start of January 2018 as a response to the #MeToo movement and the Harvey Weinstein scandal. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Berlin Women's March in Berlin. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London The Time's Up Women's March marks the one year anniversary of the first Women's March in London and in 2018 it is inspired by the Time's Up movement against sexual abuse. Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Paris Women hold a banner reading "still feminist" with the Eiffel tower in background on the Trocadero esplanade in Paris. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Protesters hold up placards at the Women's March in central London. Rex Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Paris A demonstator hold signs on the Trocadero esplanade in Paris during a women's march organised as part of global protests. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures London Chanting Times Up in the cold rain - On the anniversary of the Women's March on London. Rex Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Thousands of people gather holding protest signs on Central Park West. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Demonstrators take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Chicago A woman holds a sign during the Second Annual Womens March in Chicago AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather near Central Park before the beginning of the Women's March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington Supporters gather during the Women's March in Washington AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York The crowd lines up near Central Park Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Chicago Demostrators attend the Second Annual Womens March in Chicago AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Thousands hold signs and rally while attending the Women’s March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather near Central Park before the beginning of the Women's March in New York Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People hold signs up during the women's march Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Philadelphia Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Philadelphia Crowds gather to participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York Women pose as they attend the second annual National Womens March in New York City AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the second annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather prior to the second annual National Womens March in New York City AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People gather the second annual National Womens March AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Washington People participate in the Second Annual Women's March in Washington Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman holds a banner reading "Womwn united will never be defeated" during Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March in downtown. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome Italian actress Asia Argento (3rdL) attends the Rome Resists demonstration part of the Women's March in downtown Rome. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome The Women's March Rome, designed to show solidarity for the protection of civil and social rights, women's rights and the environment included Italian actress Asia Argento, one of the first women to accuse US film producer Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault. AFP/Getty Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Zurich A US citizen holds a poster on the anniversary of the inauguration of President Trump apologising to the world on behalf of her country, in Zurich, Switzerland. A year after millions of people took to the streets across the US and countries around the world, women's marches are being held in lots of cities this weekend. EPA Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures New York People take part in the Women's March in Manhattan Reuters Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman holds a banner reading "The rising of the women means rising of us all" during Rome Resists demonstration. AFP/Getty Images Women's March 2018 across the world: in pictures Rome A woman lifts her fist while holding a banner reading "Hear our voice" during Rome Resists demonstration. AFP/Getty

As Newman no doubt was conscious of during her interview, many people involved in MeToo have not had it easy. They may have been survivors of assault, and were forced to watch as their credibility was debated in what right-wingers describe as the “court of public opinion”. There was the woman who wrote the Shitty Media Men list, and was threatened to be outed. Heroes have fallen on their own swords, like women’s rights lawyer Lisa Bloom. Men and women – yes, so many women, too – have written simplistic, damaging and tone-deaf op-eds, like Bari Weiss in The New York Times and Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic. The interview with Peterson was well-timed, in a sense.

There is no doubt that Peterson was intelligent, determined and quick. No doubt, indeed, that the Channel 4 News interview was entertaining. But his words, on closer inspection, were vacuous and confusing, and he left gaps. He failed to mention social conditioning, whereby boys are encouraged at school to study STEM subjects and play with action men, and to not show emotion. He failed to mention that any profession dominated by women – except at the very senior levels – goes hand-in-hand with being underpaid and undervalued – ie nursing and teaching. He overexploited one aspect of the pay gap (there are five main ones, as noted by professor Tom Schuller’s Paula Principle theory) that some women prioritise work/life balance over difficult careers, and that is why they are paid less. His answer as to why items marketed for women cost more than for men? “Men don’t put up with it”. He also failed to mention how centuries of patriarchy have brainwashed us, making us accept the status quo as logical and necessary, and one that benefits us all. He believes it, too.