I first discovered Garrison Keillor at a used bookstore in 2014, when I bought his novel Lake Wobegon Days; a story which I had been drawn to primarily because of how big a sucker I am for American nostalgia. While the trend among elites in the United States — especially intellectual elites — has been to declare nostalgia for America’s past ignorant, misguided, and even harmful, I have always found these declarations to be sanctimonious, self-flagellating, and frankly more than a tad bit annoying. Cultural nostalgia, for me, is not about glossing over a civilization’s injustices, but about finding and momentarily amplifying a civilization’s redeeming aspects (a role, by the way, which nostalgia also plays when it comes to our personal histories). Thus, when reading Lake Wobegon Days — Keillor’s tales of a fictional small Minnesota town and its quirky inhabitants — I felt like the aging author had bottled in a really wonderful way the charms and eccentricities of a nation as it was decades ago, while at the same time steering clear of the sunshine-and-roses territory of Propagandaville.
But it was the second work of Keillor’s that I read, his nonfiction Homegrown Democrat, which proved to have the greatest impact, convincing me to ditch my naive and juvenile libertarianism for a practical and caring liberalism that stressed a balance between heart and mind. It was not this book alone, mind you. My transition from libertarianism to liberalism was more of a journey than just one book or thinker. But nevertheless, Homegrown Democrat was the “straw that broke the camel’s back.” It was a book that was able to present a set of political ideas not as a set of political ideas, but as a deeply personal reminiscence of community and citizenship. It was democracy as a story told by a village elder near a fire, rather than a lecture delivered by an overly-polished plastic hack.
In short, while Garrison Keillor isn’t necessarily one I would consider an “intellectual influence,” his work has always managed to bring a smile to my face, as it no doubt has done for millions of other people. He is a warm old man with a tender voice who — up until recently — had found his life’s purpose in public radio broadcasting and in writing. He was the face of a kind, humble, rural liberalism; a liberalism, I should add, that is far too rare in American political discourse today.
A sense of dread set in, then, when I first saw the headline of an article delivering the news of Garrison Keillor’s firing from Minnesota Public Radio for “sexual misconduct.” So many men once believed by the general public to be professional and decent have, in recent weeks, been exposed as predatory sleazeballs, and while a few of the exposed didn’t shock me in the slightest (Roy Moore, Bill O’Reilly), quite a few did (Kevin Spacey, Matt Lauer), and thus I was fully prepared to find the worst when it came to the dismissal of one of my admired authors. Yet as I began to read the article on Keillor’s firing, a giant red flag sprang up almost immediately: MPR was not making public why they had fired Keillor, save that they had done so for “sexual misconduct,” which left only the explanation given by Keillor himself.
“I put my hand on a woman’s bare back,” he told Minneapolis’ Star-Tribune, “I meant to pat her back after she told me about her unhappiness and her shirt was open and my hand went up it about six inches. She recoiled. I apologized. I sent her an email of apology later and she replied that she had forgiven me and not to think about it. We were friends. We continued to be friendly right up until her lawyer called… If I had a dollar for every woman who asked to take a selfie with me and who slipped an arm around me and let it drift down below the beltline, I’d have at least a hundred dollars. So this is poetic irony of a high order.”
It was in the aftermath of this statement where the kind, humble, rural liberal was met with scorn by liberals of the condescending urban know-it-all variety.
In a case study of missing the point, Alicia Eler, author of The Selfie Generation, penned an op-ed for Harpers Bazaar (titled “No, Garrison Keillor, Women Who Take Selfies Aren’t ‘Asking For It’”) that twisted the radio host’s defense to the extent of borderline libel: “In this instance, Keillor implies that the women taking selfies with him are bad, not just because they’re taking his time and hoping to be seen with a famous person, but also that they were all using the selfie to get into his pants. This loops back into the idea that ‘she asked for it’ — one of the ways that predators rationalize their behavior.”
No, dimwit. Keillor wasn’t maligning women who take selfies, nor was he boasting that women everywhere were trying to make him their Prairie Home Companion. He was simply arguing that sometimes a hand falls on a person in a place we don’t intend for it to, and thus he was deserving of the same benefit of the doubt that he gave to his female fans. Selfies were not the focus of his statement, and anyone with an above-third grade level of reading comprehension could see that.
But a righteously indignant Eler continued, “In framing the narrative of women selfie-ing with him as a bad thing — as anti-selfie — Keillor is suggesting that he is a victim of the women who want to capture a selfie with him, implying that they are self-involved, whereas he is simply a helpless bystander who, in agreeing to pose for the selfie, is selfless.”
I genuinely wonder how some people even manage to dress themselves in the morning. But while the Harpers Bazaar article contained an abundance of cluelessness and self-promotion (“Garrison Keillor hates selfies! Buy my book about selfies!”), an article in TIME written by Nora McInerny wins the Gold Medal for snobbery and opportunism. “Garrison Keillor Thinks In The Past & Belongs In The Past” the headline dictates, and the tone of its contents is no less aggressive:
“I’m not impressed that MPR terminated Garrison Keillor’s contracts. Believing women is a pretty baseline expectation for me, and giving anyone a round of applause for being decent sets the bar lower than it already is. And reading the comments on any of these stories, you realize that bar is already dangerously low. People are decrying MPR for firing Garrison Keillor because they assume that where there’s smoke, there’s a vast feminist conspiracy trying to prevent men from ever touching women again, and heaping huge financial rewards on women who come forward… There are plenty of voices in Minnesota and beyond waiting for their airtime. I was one of them… That’s the news from our Minnesota. Where our children will learn better, our women are heard, and men like you can stop talking. It’s been 50 years, dude. Let the rest of us have a turn.”
In this op-ed, two very cynical — and I daresay, evil — feelings from McInerny are conveyed: 1) “I believe you’re guilty-because-accused, not because there’s been any evidence proving your guilt” (which I’ll discuss shortly), and 2) “It’s my turn to have a radio show and the popularity of yours has prevented that from happening. Now that you’re out of the way, I can finally shine.”
It has been a month since news of Keillor’s dismissal from MPR broke, and still no detailed explanation from the public radio station has been given for why the action was taken. But that isn’t to say that other actions haven’t been taken in the meantime. MPR has ended distribution of Keillor’s broadcasts and rebroadcasts, the station has changed the name of Keillor’s radio program, and it has separated itself from Keillor’s website and online catalogs. For anyone looking at the history of MPR, then, it will appear as if Keillor never worked for them in the first place. There will literally be a 50-year empty space in the radio station’s record of its past. Such a possibility is particularly eery to anyone who’s ever watched a documentary on the Soviet Union or has ever read 1984. Garrison Keillor is now a “non-person.” He’s gone into the Memory Hole.
_____
The impact of the social movement #MeToo has been an overwhelmingly positive one. Harvey Weinstein doesn’t just need to go to prison, he needs to be put under a prison. As is the case with other powerful men who have committed similar acts. Sexual assault and harassment must be stopped, not because women are fragile and in need of protection by a paternalistic society and workplace, but simply because human beings are of equal intrinsic value and deserve respect.
Having said this, a troubling dictum has emerged in popular culture that threatens to ruin the lives of thousands. A rosy way of expressing this troubling dictum is “Believe women,” or more broadly, “Believe the victims.” But there’s no mystery to what this dictum really means: a man should automatically be thought guilty if ever accused of sexual assault or harassment. Presumption of innocence until proven guilt is now not only discouraged, but loudly derided as a concept that contributes to “rape culture” (another radical — and deeply flawed — concept that would require a separate article entirely).
One defense of assuming guilt is “Why would a woman lie about harassment or assault?” This is irritating for two reasons: 1) It presents women as saintly creatures, come down from heaven above, who would never ever have the desire to lie about abuse for any social or material benefit whatsoever (though this actually happens frequently in child custody cases, and despite the fact that several false rape allegations have made headlines in the past decade: The Rolling Stone/UVA case, the Duke Lacrosse case, and the Columbia University/“Mattress Girl” case to name just a few), and 2) It suggests that if no clear motive for lying about an incident can be immediately discerned, then automatic belief should be chosen over neutral investigation.
Another defense of assuming guilt of the alleged perpetrator is that the approach isn’t meant to be applied to the legal system, only applied in a social context. And what reassurance that is! Don’t worry men. If you ever find yourself among the 2-10% of persons falsely accused of rape, you can sleep easy knowing that even if a court of law finds you not guilty, society will loathe and ostracize you regardless. But this doesn’t matter to mainstream feminist writers and activists. In fact, they’re ecstatic about the possibility of innocent men being concerned and worried.
Emily Lindin, a columnist for Teen Vogue, tweeted: “Sorry. If some innocent men’s reputations have to take a hit in the process of undoing the patriarchy, that is a price I am absolutely willing to pay.”
Guardian writer Jessica Valenti — a reliable, ever-present voice for all things horrendous and authoritarian — stated in a series of tweets on her account: “I keep hearing that men are afraid about the sexual harassment reckoning. Scared that innocent people (them) will get implicated. Women are afraid, for good reason, every day. So I don’t care even a little if men are feeling uncomfortable or scared right now. Better men are afraid than women are hurt. Deal with it. Honestly, I think part of the problem is for too long men haven’t been afraid enough. In short: Make Men Afraid Again.”
With such flagrant disdain for American males on open display during the peak of #MeToo’s popularity, it amazes me how we’re still expected to believe the empty promise that modern/intersectional feminism “is for men too.”
The effect of the moral panic against the American male — and I believe an intentional effect — is an environment at the workplace (and outside of it) where young men will be afraid to approach women, and where young women will be trained to view any and all flirtatious gestures as “harassment.”
The counter to this is that men should not make flirtatious gestures if those gestures are unwanted… but pray tell how a man is supposed to know a flirtatious gesture is unwanted until after the fact? Many angry feminist crusaders would thunder that men should instinctively know when a woman is interested in them and when she is not. But at that point you’re effectively punishing social awkwardness, not predatory behavior.
Others will say that if a woman is interested in you, she will make it known, and if she doesn’t make it known then she shouldn’t be approached. Because apparently women are incapable of shyness, insecurity, and wondering whether or not a man is in fact interested in them. This type of response seems to suggest that while women should take an active approach to their romantic and sexual satisfaction, men should only take an apathetic approach to their own.
Marian Call, the singer/songwriter, would rather see an end to flirting period — especially in the workplace: “Dudes” she tweeted, “Are you aware how happy women would be if strangers and coworkers never flirted with us again, like ever, this is the world we want.” Never mind the fact that women flirt at work too (and with strangers, in case Marian Call has never been to a bar), and that 18% of couples under 35 meet in the workplace according to a 2015 Mic survey. In fact, in a 2013 Psychology Today survey of employees of all ages, between 40-47% reported that they were involved in a workplace romance, and another 20% said they were receptive to one. The respondents must have all been men.
To be quite frank, the conversation on harassment shouldn’t be about policing casual, awkward, or even uncomfortable interactions between the sexes, it should be about recognizing and dealing with real predators in our midst. This, however, will not happen, because policing the interactions of women and men reinforces the notion that rape is a “culture,” while attempting to recognize the specific behavioral patterns and profiles of predators would convey that harassment and assault are criminal activities committed by individuals.
Again, none of this is to say that #MeToo is not an important social movement. But if it wants to stay important, best to distance itself from the nutballs early; nutballs who seek to turn #MeToo into a cultural frenzy that indicts American men in general instead of specific toxic individuals.
For instance Niobe Way, a psychology professor at New York University, who argued in an interview with NPR that boys needed to be re-socialized because “We essentially raise boys in a culture that asks them to disconnect from their core humanity”.
Or Damon Young, an editor at The Root, who wrote “We are all complicit. We are all agents of patriarchy, and we’ve benefitted from it. We are all active contributors to rape culture. All of us. No one is exempt. We all have investments in and take deposits out of the same bank. And we all need to accept and reconcile ourselves with the fact that, generally speaking, we are trash.”
Ijeoma Oluo, a feminist writer and (embarrassingly, shamefully) a soon-recipient of the American Humanist Association’s Feminist Humanist Award, believes “The society is doing everything it can to create rapists, to enable rapists, and to protect rapists. This society is broken, abusive, patriarchal (and white supremacist, ableist, hetero-cisnormative) trash. Not just in little pockets. Not just in dark alleys and frat parties. It’s fucking rotten through and through and has been for-abso-fucking-lutely-ever.”
The result of this diabolical lunacy is obvious: women should be idolized, men should be pathologized. If #MeToo is going to be anything besides a brief flicker that doesn’t survive the next year (as was the case with #banbossy in 2014 and #oscarssowhite in 2016), it needs to remove its crayon-eating, window-licking, radical elements right now. Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, and Kevin Spacey no more represent all men than the escaped asylum patients Jessica Valenti, Emily Lindin, Marian Call, and Ijeoma Oluo represent all women (though they think they do).
_____
To conclude, I admit that I do not know if Garrison Keillor’s account is the whole story, or even if it’s true at all. There could be so much more to why he was fired from MPR. Garrison Keillor could, in fact, be a major scumbag. But I don’t know because MPR won’t tell me or the rest of the public, which is bound to raise suspicion. If Keillor’s only offense was accidentally touching a woman’s bare back, then he should be reinstated immediately and receive an apology. Something along the lines of “I’m sorry Garrison that we’re spineless wormy cowards who dropped you like a hot potato at the first whiff of controversy, despite you devoting 50 years of your life to us. Here’s a million dollars.”
More broadly, the ruining of men’s social lives and careers based on accusations alone is dangerous, and I can’t believe I actually have to make this point. Innocent-until-proven-guilty is a way of ensuring innocent people don’t find themselves punished for a crime they didn’t commit (has anyone ever read To Kill A Mockingbird?), and socially speaking, perhaps people should similarly withhold judgement about alleged victim and perpetrator until facts come to light. If you think this is “rape apologism,” bite me.
As far as sexual harassment in the workplace is concerned, do we really need to perfectly define and separate into black-and-white moral boxes every single human interaction and dynamic like puritans? Of course not. While “common sense” is — by the very nature of the term — easier to sense than to articulate, any decent person with half a brain can still exercise it on the job: High five? Okay. Back rub? Not okay. Asking a coworker on a date? Okay. Asking a coworker to lick your toes? You get the idea.
Race Hochdorf is the author of A Letter To The Left: What Liberals Get Wrong About Terrorism, The Economy, Equality, & Social Justice.
Edit – This article originally included the name of Al Franken among those the author was surprised to have been found to have exhibited predatory behavior. This was an error he thought he had removed before publication.
[…] and canceling men for unintentional and unknown wrongs they did to someone decades ago, that does not represent who they are. When the propaganda machine features stories of fathers, […]
[…] does pride become narcissism? Everything is suddenly “up for grabs” (sometimes literally, cf. #MeToo movement). In “Violence in the media,” media prophet Marshall McLuhan wrote, “Violence, whether […]
“The impact of the social movement #MeToo has been an overwhelmingly positive one.”–Hunh? And how do you know that Weinstein is guilty, even guilty enough, as you insinuate, to be executed. Why is Kevin Spacey in your eyes a scumbag? You contradict the implications, largely positive, of your own position. #Meto is a psyop to prepare us for war hysteria by the military intelligence-Democratic Party apparatus, one which also very conveniently cracks the glass ceiling for a lot of self-important upper middle class pseudo-feminist creeps.
[…] does pride become narcissism? Everything is suddenly “up for grabs” (sometimes literally, cf. #MeToo movement). In “Violence in the media” (Canadian Forum, 1976), media prophet Marshall McLuhan wrote, […]
you’re kind of part of the problem. you’re not surprised conservatives are perverts but are shocked liberals are. libertarianism is juvenile- wow, great crossing the aisle to understand someone elses view. if liberals are so compassionate, why do they advocate crap lifestyles for minorities who suffer from them. why not donate your own money instead of literally stealing other peoples money. benevolence and community are neither when coerced. The metoo movement is sick because from the start women were equating crude guy stories with rape. No one wants crude guys but honestly draw a distinction. and minnie driver said being raped is no more hurtful than being forced to see a guys penis. this is sick. sick stuff. and no i will not believe every woman. and yes i resent women using sex as a tool for advancement like all these actresses with their fake t and a and fake… Read more »
I believe that the best cure is to go to the root of this problem. Feminists want equality they say… well, how about equality of responsibility? If a woman acuses a man of rape, and it is determined she lied, she should be given a jail term equal to what was going to be given to the man falsely acused. Women who rape young boys, should be also given the same jail terms as men raping girls, which none of those two cases happen. Women who rape and women who lie are treated in a way that is a joke how they are “punished”, yet men lives are ruined, even if they did not commit rape. Their names are tarnished forever. Women have been completely devoided of any responsibility and are treated as infants, and men have been made responsible for all the flaws women have. Just look at what… Read more »
The MeToo movement is part of the swinging pendulum of life which is long overdo if anyone cares to pull away from the article’s opinion at the moment, look at the big picture, and has ever bothered to read or study how females were treated in history and how they’re currently treated in various cultures today. Don’t panic (said lightly and with a smile) while the pendulum swings allowing change long overdo for centuries which may finally stop ancient patriarchal customs, negative and inaccurate viewpoints regarding women’s purpose, intelligence. Garrison Keillor had only one accuser and the story broadcasted in the media describes a seemingly innocent faux pas type of incident. Yet, Garrison and his employer had the financial means and corporate attorneys standing by who could easily take on this one, lone woman’s accusation. Something isn’t right. There’s more going on here—possibly a lie by omission from Garrison’s employer… Read more »
Interesting article. We have started a new blog and organization called dontcrywolf.org, trying to bring light to the epidemic of false allegations of abuse. Curious to hear your thoughts.
The one thing I continue to notice with the growth of this #MeToo movement is that “Guilt” is about the LAST thing anyone is interested in.,. its just that simple… someone made the comment about “hope we don’t turn into a society where we have to prove our innocence”.. Well kinda late for that don’t you think?Not sure quite where you been over the last 2 years but that’s EXACTLY where we are at..and its getting even worse.. One of the absolute fundamental’s of our judicial system and we have quickly fast forwarded right past ANY of that part of the process…
I have seen men in management positions put women working in subordinate positions in a lot of uncomfortable positions and in one case when it involved a women I knew, I threatened to break his jaw. I have also known women who wouldn’t think twice about making unimaginable lies up if it meant that they would be rewarded in some way. The case against Keillor bothers me because of all the secrecy. I believe in innocence until guilt is proven and it bothers me that his accuser can remain totally anonymous while she ruins his career. I have never engaged in workplace romances because of the problems that can occur if the relationship goes sour. We have always had a justice system that would prefer to let a guilty person walk free rather than condemning an innocent person, so why can’t we use the same rationale in the metoo movement.… Read more »
“Unfortunately, in court a woman is always presumed lying (and this is the advise for the jury) when she accuses someone of sexual missconduct or rape. ”
No, this is not the case. There is a difference between being told that the person is entitled to the presumption of innocence and saying the other person is a liar or not. It is up to the Judge or Jury to determine if the matter is proven. The defense lawyer certainly is and is trying to prove this. Ultimately the jury has to decide wetreh the matter is proven or not. Note I said person, rape occurs to all sexes
We don’t want to live in a society where you have to prove yourself innocent
[…] Garrison Keillor & The Dark Side Of #MeToo – AREO […]
So you were not surprised when the conservative celebrities were accused of being sex predators, but when Al Franken and Matt Lauer were called out … well, that was unbelievable! So now that you exposed your bias as a liberal hack apologist, how are we supposed to take anything else you have to say seriously?
“There are plenty of voices in Minnesota and beyond waiting for their airtime. I was one of them…” Nora McInerny | She is definitely right about that. His radio show became predictable, tedious, and boring – forever. She’s wrong about everything else. Then again, most zealots are. And most misanthropic faux feminists are. Equality does not easily equate to intersectional feminism, but it does equate to white male privilege. When you use the same logic of intolerance as your nemesis – you’re the lipstick on the pig you troll. But hey. Since we’re all primates that would make complete sense. Patriarchal and #HillaryCrats zealots conveniently dispense with science, aka natural selection when it suits their logic loop. But thanks to the Yale Cognition Project we all know that academics (and the bare back MFA crowd) are the worst offenders of confirmation bias. This, of course, is brilliant: “If #MeToo is… Read more »
Great thoughts. Thanks for writing this. It’s a relief I’m not the only one concerned about this.
For a long time now we’ve had well-established, democratically-formulated laws on sexual harassment and assault that basically state that if a woman doesn’t do or say anything to make the man think she’s not into it, it’s consent. A lot of people grew up and lived their whole lives under these laws. Now we’ve got university feminists who want to push a new, extreme view that the woman has to explicitly say yes (‘affirmative consent’); that she can withdraw that consent at any time, even retrospectively; that any impairment to perfect functioning (a few glasses of wine) makes consent impossible; and so on. And for some reason this new extreme view is being allowed to destroy lives, despite the fact that the old laws (ones we built up as communities over many decades) are still on the books. By all means, extreme feminists, argue for your new definitions and see… Read more »
In virtually all of the sexual interactions I’ve ever had, I’ve had to take the lead. Had to – because women almost never do. That’s the case even when it’s obvious (and they confirm in retrospect) that they want something to happen. So the man carries all the risk of making the first move. Given that, the least we could ask for is a bit of charity. If we put our arms around you or try to kiss you after a date, just signal subtly that you’re not interested and the vast majority of us will stop. If a man continues after that point, then obviously that’s a problem. But remember that these things can be subtle. I’ve kissed a girl on the lips once and gotten no obvious reciprocation, but I felt she was waiting for more kisses, and after a while she started kissing back. Was I assaulting… Read more »
“No, dimwit.”
What a spiteful writer. This is just one example. The article is littered with such silly attacks. I am surprised this article was even published. Perhaps the writer should have invoked his humanistic “liberalism” which he made a show of advocating.
What you say and the tone in which you say it matters.
I have found lately, that if you try and assume good faith on the part of people you disagree with then it is much easier to listen to them in a relaxed way that gives you a chance to give them a fair hearing. However, I do worry that an underlying dynamic has emerged in our media where the authors know that they are misinterpreting statements such as that of Mr. Keillor but go ahead and write their piece anyway – presumably in the justification that it supports a cause they believe in (or perhaps because they know it will get published). We’re giving some left-wing journalists a hard time here, but I have seen similarly disingenuous commentary coming from right-wing journalists as well.
@ElefteLogos When have you ever heard of a judge, or anyone else impartial in a court, advise a jury to presume that a woman is lying? Not only would that be grossly unjust, but given that court sessions are recorded for the public it would also be leapt upon by every feminist journalist who heard about it.
Ps. (sorry OT) I’m born and raised in MN and can testify that the other reason I left liberalism is because the “kind, humble, rural liberals” have for the most part been eaten alive by the condescending urban know-it-all variety. Garrison Keilor’s brand of liberalism is sadly as nostalgic and as fictional as Lake Woebegon, even here in the land of Lake Woebegone.
“Convincing me to ditch my naive and juvenile libertarianism for a practical and caring liberalism” LOL! I went the opposite way ditching the liberalism I was raised with when I grew up and accepeted the reality that the government could not be everyone’s indulgent parent without a lot of unintended consequences and costs (not merely monetary but, social) which more often than not outweigh the benefits. I’m much more practical and caring today than I ever was when I considered myself a liberal. Regardless, I’ve been a fan of Mr. Keilor and his program no matter my differences with his politics. It’s very sad and alarming he’s been fired and had his name stricken from MPR for one accusation which (if it happened as he described) I don’t believe meets the definition of harrasment. If the accuser is alleging something more serious I wish MPR would be more upfront about… Read more »
“Sorry. If some innocent men’s reputations have to take a hit in the process of undoing the patriarchy, that is a price I am absolutely willing to pay.” Cruel but …
Unfortunately, in court a woman is always presumed lying (and this is the advise for the jury) when she accuses someone of sexual missconduct or rape. So please do not extrapolate what happens because of media pressure to an universal law. If Bill O’Reilly got fired was not for sexual harassment but for lose of advertising sponsorship. So alas we need courts and public plataforms for complaint. Because it is proven that humans cannot be trusted with “common sense”
a thoughtful and well-written piece. and i don’t even like garrison keillor.
“Sorry. If some innocent men’s reputations have to take a hit in the process of undoing the patriarchy, that is a price I am absolutely willing to pay.”
My wife and I call this the Farquaad Principle. “Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.”
You nailed the crux of the excesses of metoo with this article. This popular conflation of minor or even non-events with real sexual predation in this feeding frenzy is pathetic. I hope there is a nice lawsuit or two in the offing for people – of whom Garrison might be one – who are basically innocent but treated like collateral damage by these psychotic opiners most of whom never did a thing for actual justice or an actual victim. Thank you for the clarity of your point, evenness even though forceful, and especially for calling out the loons who have no sense or love for justice.
what’s an MPR?
“Harvey Weinstein doesn’t just need to go to prison, he needs to be put under a prison.” I may be reading more into this than intended, but is the writer suggesting the death penalty be imposed on men who sexually abuse women?
Apart from that, great piece, though I doubt that the extreme wing of the feminist movement will be impressed.
What’s wrong with hating selfies anyway?
What kind of narcissist looks at the pyramids or the Great Wall of China and thinks, you know what would make a picture of this even better? Me!
I had my office party last night and every so often women would grab me to take pictures of us together. I don’t like being photographed anyway and I’m not a fucking celebrity and don’t understand why people I work with 300 days a year should suddenly take an interest in posing for photographs with me just because it’s Christmas.
Just because an activity is more popular among women than men doesn’t mean it should be beyond criticism. These are people who wouldn’t think twice about criticising activities that are more popular among men specifically because they are popular among men.