And the winner is … #MeToo.
But will it last?
Before this week’s conviction of Harvey Weinstein on sex crimes committed against two women, #MeToo was on life support, and fading fast. The righteous movement that purported to wage holy war on behalf of the rights of women, girls, and even abused men and boys, was quickly fading into an unfunny punchline.
It began as a battle against sexual assault and unwelcome touching fought by a wave of mainly women united in the glorious defense against sexism and misogyny and the guys, usually, who commit these outrages with unfettered abandon. Soon, all that necessary anger devolved into triviality as #MeToo warriors lost all sense of proportion, fighting against men who went on bad dates and dirty jokesters with the same zeal as purveyors of the casting couch, turning vaguely uncomfortable encounters and apparent sexual misunderstandings into male career-killers.
#MeToo had transformed before our eyes from a fight against real and rabid enemies into a cudgel wielded to bash the male of the species, as the Weinsteins of the world were confused with dubious cases and probable innocents. So former U.S. Sen. Al Franken was drummed out of office for playing a stupid gag on a female performer before he was even elected, and the late ex-President George H.W. Bush was hounded to his grave by allegations that, as a nonagenarian, he improperly touched the backsides of women whose posteriors reached the level of his his wheelchair-bound arms.
#MeToo was rapidly turning into a war against men. All men.
Yet Weinstein’s spectacular downfall from Hollywood powerbroker to a mongrel unfit for human company breathes spectacular relevance back into the struggle. Still, it may be too late.
For Weinstein is a special case. No one could confuse him with a desirable man.
He was a known bully who, aside from the now-proven instances of sexual predation, destroyed critics and threatened their jobs by denouncing them in full-page ads. He once had me banned from movie screenings because he seemed to believe I might criticize one of his pet projects. (No worries, dude, I never wrote that piece.)
Now he’s been found guilty of felony sex crime for forcing oral sex on a former Project Runway production assistant in 2006, and of raping another woman in 2013. And although he was acquitted of three further charges, including the two most serious counts of predatory sexual assault, which carried a possible life term in prison, he could be sentenced to up to 29 years behind bars.
It’s easy to imagine how many other women he may have tormented with his power, wealth and brute strength.
His ugliness, inside and out, was his undoing. I doubt one could find 12 jurors who believe this gnarly character could coax consensual sex out of women, without resorting to threats, force, or promises of destroying their careers. I can’t think of one person who feels sorry for him.
Yet, it’s Weinstein’s demonstrated evilness, his standing as the worst of the worst, that made him such a juicy target. If #MeToo is to survive – and there have been stirrings of a new #HimToo movement (which sounds like parody) in response – practitioners of sexual victimhood must keep their eyes on the prize.
Not every man is a villain. Not every woman is abused. Not every encounter between the opposite sexes or same-sexes is a crime.
Reserve the war for the palpably guilty. People like the wretched Harvey Weinstein.
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February 26, 2020 at 04:43AM
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Will #MeToo last after Harvey Weinstein's conviction? - New York Post
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