Men are not the victims of the #MeToo movement

It is not unusual for perpetrators to turn the world upside-down and claim that they are the real victims. So there is nothing unusual in a leading opinion maker (a man) claiming in a formerly respectable newspaper that the essence of the #MeToo movement is harassment of all decent men. But we must speak up every time comfortable men try to beat back into the corner the women fighting for a safer world for all women. Now too.

I want to mention for a moment that the heydays of the US #MeToo movement were preceded by the fight (and success) for marriage equality and followed by the strongest awakening ever of Black Lives Matter.

These things don’t happen in a vacuum. I find the sequence interesting.

I’m not going to discuss the opinion maker or even the person he’s defending against what he deems weak accusations. Rather, I’m going to hold to the light and dissect what I consider his abject arguments.

He writes about “the ordeal endured by US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh when the #MeToo movement attempted to smear him over alleged sexual assault charges.”

This Kavanaugh was not accused by any movement. I’ve heard the testimony of the only witness allowed to speak. For me as a therapist, it was clear as crystal that she was telling the truth and the accused not–with his fake anger, no different from the outburst of our former president who eventually was convicted of sexual assault. Many viewers seemed to have had the same impression.

But to portray her story as an “#MeToo movement attempted to smear” is no different from a convicted anti-Semite saying that “World Jewry” has done him in. Accusations of anti-Semitism are often framed by anti-Semites as an attack by the Jews.

The “Senate hearing, which made McCarthyism pale in comparison.”

The scale of the false accusations and the penalties in the hunt for communists in the US were horrendous and people were even executed. How many men did get the death penalty from (false or true) accusations by the #MeToo movement? NB: The very Harvey Weinstein around whom the #MeToo movement exploded is still not locked up for life.

In “today’s insane climate, it would only take one woman to go to the media and accuse me of sexual misconduct. She would soon be joined by others and #MeToo supporters baying for my blood.”

First of all, it is a known form of sexism to accuse women of hysteria, insanity. No different from accusing Jews of being liars and thieves.

Then, not every man is now in danger of being falsely accused. Maybe in a divorce procedure. But I don’t know ONE man accuse or brought to trial for sexual assault who didn’t harm a fly while I know so many women who were sexually assaulted and did not tell anyone, did not go to the police, or if they did, saw their cases closed, or, if it came to trial, saw, if it came to a conviction at all, ridiculous punishments. Victims traumatized for years, often decades, perpetrators getting two months in jail. Totally absurd.

Women’s blood is spilled by the truckloads but the author wants sympathy for the blood spilled of men falsely accused. Clearly, men are not falsely convicted in any proportion to the unpunished assault on women.

And if you keep Jewish Law, and never seclude yourself with a woman, you have nothing to fear even from vindictive women. Often sex abusers claim that all men are on trial now. May I point out that that is simply untrue.

“Unfortunately, there are, of course, sexual predators who should have been dealt with long ago, and for that reason, initially I considered the #MeToo movement a highly overdue effort to stamp out these abominations.”

Women are victimized in every country at every minute of the day. To claim that this is something of the past should be a crime in itself. (Just think how many women are cruelly reminded of their victimization by the alleged Eilat gang rape. Women to whom it happened a decade ago, a year ago, a month ago, a week ago, yesterday.) It’s like saying, the Holocaust is over and when do Jews finally stop whining about their victimhood?!

For me it’s obvious (I could be mistaken) that Dershowitz is falsely accused of sexual assault of a minor. But look at how this opinion leader builds his case. Dershowitz is very respectable, did great things, but defended Trump and Epstein so now the media convict him Just like Kavanaugh.

Not at all. Dershowitz was not made to face the accuser on TV. Where is the comparison?

More importantly, how estimable Dershowitz was or is, is totally irrelevant. Bill Crosby was very meritorious. That does not imply his innocence in accusations of being a serial rapist. Jerry Sandusky was practically a saint. He founded a non-profit charity serving underprivileged and at-risk youth and arranged foster care. But some became his victims. Hundreds can vouch for being saved by him but dozens that he raped them, typically boys without a father at home, when they were 8–12 years old. He was found guilty of 45 counts of sexual abuse. All the good he did, did not erase the monster he was to dozens. Same in the case of Michael Jackson, who died before most of his victims finally dared to speak up.

But the worst point of this whole opinion piece is the following, I believe. I also think that the case against Dershowitz is weak if at all existing. But this opinion leader is using that innocence to discredit the whole #MeToo movement. If one Jew is a thief, all Jews are thieves. If one woman falsely accuses, all men are in danger of having their innocent blood spilled.

***

Again, my whole aim here was to show the sexism and suggest arguments against this kind of hatred for women. Because there is no middle ground. Either you are an ally to women or you are part of the problem.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, an almost daily blog contributor to the Times of Israel, and previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is (partly) generated by AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. He doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. 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