From the article:
Lionel Shriver wrote:I am concerned that we are throwing knee-touching into the same basket as rape, which does a grievous disservice to mere knee-touchers and rape victims both.
Lionel is an author, most recently of The Standing Chandelier, and winner of the Orange Prize for Fiction.
Christina Hoff Sommers says wrote:The #MeToo movement seems to be devolving into an anti-male grievance-fest.
Christina is an author, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and host of The Factual Feminist.
Nathalie Rothschild says… wrote:Why is the #Metoo campaign worrying? It is hard to know where to begin.
I could discuss how it is normalising the kind of mob behaviour that is the most negative aspect of internet culture, and how it is eroding the presumption of innocence.
I could mention how the insistence that men are complicit in perpetuating a ‘rape culture’ characterised by a ‘continuum of abuse’ – running from lockerroom banter to gang rape – demonises half the world’s population and relativises, and therefore trivialises, sexual violence.
Nathalie is a print and broadcast journalist based in Stockholm, Sweden.
Wendy Kaminer says… wrote:#MeToo is the unthinking woman’s anti-harassment crusade. It commands us to ‘believe the women’ unthinkingly, without considering the seriousness or plausibility of their claims.
Wendy is a lawyer, author and a former national board member of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Julia Hartley-Brewer says… wrote:The #MeToo campaign is very worrying and will achieve the opposite of what it pretends to want. The hashtag claims to be about empowering women to speak out when actually it is turning women into perpetual victims.
Julia is a journalist, broadcaster and host at talkRADIO.
Emily Yoffe says… wrote:We should not tolerate sexual harassment. But I am worried that, with the growing consensus that there should be ‘zero tolerance’ for sexual harassment, we will make the same mistake regarding the workplace that we’ve made with other social problems in recent decades.
Emily is a journalist and contributing editor at the Atlantic.
Mary Kenny says wrote:No woman should be coerced into sexual relations – let alone raped – and moral codes exist for a reason. Yet sexual relations are complex...If we are honest with ourselves, we know how many layers of complexity there can be in jest, flirtation, a look, a sigh, a word. Women have often warmed to a touch, a joke, a comment which implies interest or pursuit. That is not harassment.
Mary is a journalist and the author of Am I a Feminist? Are You?.
Claire Berlinski says… wrote:The #MeToo movement has exposed allegations of very serious sexual crimes and the degree to which women are simply fed up. This is healthy, up to a point. But we are way past that point.
It has now morphed into a mass hysteria. Men have been accused of transgressions no reasonable person would define as a crime. And this crime comes with a swift and terrifying penalty, but has no clear definition and no statute of limitations. This is juridically and morally absurd.
Claire is a novelist and journalist. Donate towards her new book: Stitch by Stitch.
Cathy Young says… wrote:The post-Harvey Weinstein #MeToo momentum has ended the silence surrounding sexual abuse committed by a number of wealthy and powerful men, so it’s difficult not to see a positive side. But it is also increasingly clear that this cultural moment has turned into an orgy of female victimhood and the demonisation of men.
Cathy is a journalist and the author of Ceasefire!: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality.
Rita Panahi says… wrote:Due process and the presumption of innocence cannot be forgotten in our eagerness to embolden women coming forward with allegations of harassment and sexual assault. There must be a balance between believing women and ensuring that the lives of innocent people are not destroyed.
Rita is a journalist and columnist for the Herald Sun, in Australia.
Joanna Williams says… wrote:One of the worst things about the #MeToo panic is the impact it has on informal workplace relations. Yes, people still socialise in mixed groups and colleagues still share confidences behind closed doors. But, at the same time, a new wariness has taken hold. A voice in our heads asks how our interactions might be interpreted by others. Is it best to leave the office door open? Invite a third party along to the lunch meeting? Under what circumstances can you hug a colleague? Or touch their elbow?
Joanna is spiked’s education editor and author of Women vs Feminism: Why We All Need Liberating from the Gender Wars
Claire Fox says… wrote:#MeToo has morphed into a campaign that brooks no dissent. Raise qualms and watch the insults roll. Critics are told they are suffering from internalised misogyny, are in denial, or are too old to understand the horrors of leering bosses.
Claire is author of I Find That Offensive and director of the Institute of Ideas.
Ella Whelan says… wrote:#MeToo has been hailed as a revelatory moment. But the truth is, there’s little new about this obsession with phantom sexual-harassment epidemics. #MeToo might have been spurred on by news of a fat old perv in Hollywood, but the feminist narrative of victimised women has been around for a long time.
Ella is assistant editor at spiked and author of What Women Want: Fun, Freedom and an End to Feminism.