The U.K.-U.S. Feminist Internet Mob rejoiced when they took down Nobel Laureate cell researcher Sir Tim Hunt for making outrageously sexist comments to a conference of female scientists in South Korea. Only he didn’t make such horrible remarks, rather they were misquoted by a strident women-in-science reporter named Connie St. Louis who whipped up a big storm on social media comparing this 70-something lab nerd to every man who ever kept a woman down. If you’re getting your news from somebody named Connie St. Louis, it’s time to change papers.

According to the frothing at the mouth activists who were riding full speed on their broomsticks before fact checking, the old British researcher announced that women don’t belong in science labs. Sound the claxons of Athena. Hell’s gate has been stormed. Here’s what he actually said, in full, a sad attempt at conference speech humor by an aging book worm:

It’s strange that such a chauvinist monster like me has been asked to speak to women scientists. Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab: you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticize them they cry. Perhaps we should make separate labs for boys and girls? Now seriously, I’m impressed by the economic development of Korea. And women scientists played, without doubt, an important role in it. Science needs women and you should do science despite all the obstacles, and despite monsters like me.

So, basically, I’m a old sod who grew up in a pre equal rights era just trying to be as progressive as possible. After being forced to resign every single job and post and academic association he had after the sexist outrage, tons of women came forward to declare that this dude was far and away the biggest supporter of women in science in his field. Including his wife, who wanted everyone to know he’s a sweet old man who is just horrible at jokes. She too being a female scientist he worked with for years.

Millennial hyper-reactive speech police, what have we learned? Well, we may have to wait an extra twenty years for the cure for cancer to satiate the blood lust of Tweeting women’s studies majors. Also, an old dude who was set to retire with his Nobel Prize and accomplishments of fifty years committed to selfless scientific research has now been besmirched for basically not being able to deliver a poorly thought out joke. Once. In South Korea. To eleven people. All of whom responded with laughs to his comments. Will political correctness kill us all? Probably. For real. Enjoy your chemo.

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