Michael Shermer: I told you so

Some time ago, you may remember that Michael Shermer was accused of rape. I said at the time that this was bullshit, and I would happily nail my colours to the mast about that one.

Well, lookie here: the story’s changed a little. The story is now that Allison Smith, the girl has finally come forward, was so drunk that she can’t remember what happened. But years later, she’s decided it was rape. Despite sending Shermer a nice email in between.

Hmmm. I think I can see why no one has wanted to go to the police with this thing. Matters like ‘evidence’. So much easier to spread rumors and destroy people’s reputation in the meantime.

And, oh look, there’s this article being circulated on Buzzfeed. What’s buzzfeed? Well, it’s the site well known for circulating lies and falsehoods about rape.

It is commonly said that a lie will get halfway across the world before the truth can get its boots on. And this is true. Except in the feminist blogosphere, where a lie will get to Alpha Centauri and back three times while the truth is locked up in a makeshift dungeon in the basement, screaming […] Suppose you are a woman who wants to destroy a guy’s reputation for some reason. Do you go to the police station, open up a legal case, get yourself tested with an invasive rape kit, hire an attorney, put yourself through a trial which may take years and involve your reputation being dragged through the mud, accept that you probably won’t get a conviction anyway given that you have no evidence – and take the risk of jail time if you’re caught lying? Or do you walk to the other side of the quad and bring it up to your school administrator, who has just declared to the national news that she thinks all men accused of rape should be automatically expelled from the college, without any investigation, regardless of whether there is any evidence? Or if even the school administrator isn’t guilty-until-proven-innocent enough for you, why not just go to a bunch of your friends, tell them your ex-boyfriend raped you, and trust them to spread the accusation all over your community? Then it doesn’t even matter whether anyone believes you or not, the rumor is still out there.

To that stupid Buzzfeed article:

Hitchens, the best-selling author of God Is Not Great, who died in 2011, wrote a notorious Vanity Fair article called “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” Richard Dawkins, another author whose books have brought atheism to the masses, has alienated many women — and men — by belittling accusations of sexism in the movement; he seems to go out of his way to antagonize feminists generally, and just this past July 29 he tweeted, “Date rape is bad. Stranger rape at knifepoint is worse. If you think that’s an endorsement of date rape, go away and learn how to think.” And Penn Jillette, the talking half of the Penn and Teller duo, famouslyrevels in using words like “cunt.”

So Christopher Hitchens, the man who spent his life arguing that the only cure for poverty was the empowerment of women is a sexist because of one article. Sam Harris, who defends gun ownerships principally as a way of letting women defend themselves from men, is a sexist, because of an impromptu comment. Penn Jillette who did groundbreaking work exposing the exploitation and cruelty of the cheerleading industry, is a sexist. And Richard Dawkins, who has been opposing the patriarchal elements of religion since forever, is a sexist because, well, he’s clever and accomplished and able, and we can’t have that.

Back to Shermer. You could argue that he’s not a rapist, he’s just a sleaze. It’s not right to go in for one night stands and random hookups, right?

Sorry! I could agree to that, but you can’t. It’s the age of ‘sex positive feminism’, remember? I recall the following from Jezebel:

“I’ve gone through phases in my life where I bounce between serial monogamy, Very Serious Relationships and extremely casual sex [..] I’ve slept next to guys on the first date, had sex on the first date, allowed no more than a cheek kiss, dispensed with the date-concept altogether after kissing the guy on the way to his car, fucked a couple of close friends and, more rarely, slept with a guy I didn’t care if I ever saw again.”

Casual drunken sex is empowering and to be celebrated, remember? To put it bluntly – would you call a girl who went in for one night stands a slut? Then you can’t call a guy who goes in for them a sleaze. To use the cliche a’right, what’s sauce for the goose is definitely sauce for the gander.

UPDATE:

Well worth the watch. H/t my colleague.