Is the current rise in female-led focus groups a good thing, or is it just tokenism in its most laughable form? Does the flurry of 'Powerful Women in Construction' coffee mornings have a serious message or just pandering to zeitgeist absurdities? Are big companies just cashing in on the X chromosome dollar or is the world-changing and finally becoming....equal?
Before you switch off or say something nasty, I am truly serious. I want to look at and get to the bottom of this. I am a feminist sympathiser and always have been Yet I have no feel for the Me Too movement. I have an aversion to it,
Start at the beginning. I would like to explain where I dug up my stance. I recall being horrified by certain things in my adolescence. If anything was to sum it up, it was Snoop Doggy-Dogg and his breakthrough album, Doggystyle. Everyone seemed to love it. It was played everywhere. Yet it felt like I alone was dumbfounded by the violent misogyny in that album. No one seemed to hear it. to borrow from Zoolander, I felt like I was taking crazy pills. .Allow me to quote:
"Guess who's back in the motherfucking house? With a fat dick for your motherfucking mouth""Well if corrupt gave a fuck about a bitch, I'd always be broke. I'd never have no motherfucking indo to smoke""I know the pussy's mine so I'ma fuck it a couple more times, then I'm through with it, pass it to the homies, now you hit it""Back up bitch because I'm struggling, just get on your knees, and then start juggling, these motherfuckin nuts in your mouth. It's me Warren G the nigga with the pouch"
This was repellent to me, but not, it seemed, to anyone else.
Now it is worth noting that these gems are not unique to one or two tracks those quotes are from Korrupt and Warren G but they are on his album it is a record-long theme. An album produced by the king of the unapologetic fake-tough-guy narcissists: Dr. Dre. A man (of sorts) with a penchant for punching anything in a bikini. and a transparently Freudian habit of championing his previous achievements and lamenting his contemporary status. Unsure? Look up what he did to interviewer Dee Barnes who dared ask about the NWA feud with Ice Cube. The incident misrepresented in the Eminem song "Guilty Conscience". He did not just, as the song suggests, "slap Dee Barnes", he took her aside and beat her senseless. He was unapologetic about it for years to come, yet continued to portray himself as a hard-case........yeah Andre, real tough. He has now shown remorse, or maybe the word "demonstrated" would be more suitable.
" I just did it, you know. Ain’t nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain’t no big thing—I just threw her through a door."
Andre "Dr. Dre" Young. As tough as they come.
There is something of an irony to behold when we see that Tupac Shakur, possibly the only one in the crowd that was a true "gangster", was the only one to rap about how important women were and it stood out on his track "Keep Ya Head Up". He wrote refreshing and intelligent lyrics that reflected the suffering of women in the urban community. Showing a side to this genre that was lost with the senseless murder of this intelligent and gifted young man. No flower-child and a man with definite demons, but he held integrity. Yet in 1993 in the UK, comparatively few knew Tupac, guys, and girls loved Snoop.
I was flummoxed. Okay, I will admit, the tunes were great, a new take on the rap sound and his voice and style were refreshing, but such vitriolic lyrics - no-one seemed taken away by it?
It is Important to state this is not an anti-Snoop article, it is not even an anti-hip-hop one. The question is bigger than that. It is anti-Dr Dre, but then in some way, everything I write would be.
There is the whole basis for my thoughts. this is not anti-anything, except for agenda. Which is precisely my problem with this glitzy Me Too movement.
It seems so much to be "of the moment" and I just get a feeling it is for a purpose and not the one it purports to.
Firstly, it is unreasonable and refuses any calls to accountability, or even debate. Look at Terry Gilliam's respectful questioning of the Me Too movement s direction It was an intelligent and reasonable piece. Yet in response, he was attacked as if he had just done a graphic novel of Mein Kampf. Ellin Barkin made a wild accusation-leaden and hyperbole-drenched statement against him on Twitter. Is what he said correct? Maybe, maybe not. Still, he is allowed to say it. When a man calls offence at any statement made, no matter how vitriolic, he is called a 'Snowflake' and is considered fair game for aggressive reprisal.
One interesting debate that turned into militant keyboard-warfare was for suggesting a prostitute has to accept some responsibility if assaulted in the course of a night's work.
Let us look at it.
Why not? If a drug dealer is stabbed whilst selling drugs, people would say that was if not deserved, then inevitable. No one forced them to deal drugs (are you imagining a male drug dealer I wonder?). Same applies. Regardless of upbringing and surroundings. If you pander in an illegal vice that is known to attract violence, you must forego incredulity. Especially when it comes to personal injury that is sadly an occupational hazard.
So what about treatment? Put yourself in the position of a weary police chief. It is the end of a long hard day. Two cases come in. An architect attacked walking to their car in a company lot, walked into my precinct at the same time as a hooker, who was selling themselves in a notoriously dangerous area, and both have been sexually assaulted. I only have one FME (force medical examiner) on-site and they are leaving but concede to do one more evidence examination. I have to make a choice. Sorry, but you cannot blame other people for your plight. Imagine you are the partner or parent of the architect. What would you want?
You will notice I have not specified the gender of any of my imaginary cop-show cast. If you are reading this and have presumed the sex of any of the said people, that is something you should look at and question
The way it is being used in high-level media circles at any given turn, it is laughable. The release of the recent reboot of Charlie's Angels was an absolute flop. So, rather than say; "Okay, fair game, I should have made a story of my own rather than copy a tired old trope.", Director Elizabeth Banks has blamed a chauvinistic audience philosophy to women in movies in this interview. Rubbishing the question of recent successes such as Captain Marvel as being in comic books which is still male-dominated. An amusing idea from someone who made a film about three women who do everything a rich man tells them to, often at their own risk. So a feminist stronghold it is most certainly not. Why did she have to behave so sorely? Here is a very intelligent response from Digital Spy, explaining, respectfully, why it flopped. Written by a feminist journalist, and arguing with thought and reason and still showing admiration and fondness for the effort. As of this publishing, she as not had a response calling her some names and suggesting she is a gender-traitor.
Then we should look at what this movement is asking for. It says it wants equality for females. Has Me Too campaigned for equal rights in the divorce courts. have they called for an end to standard community property divorce settlements? No, they have not. They want 'equality' and (as Eddie Murphy said) they get "HALF"
Staying on the media angle, there was a recently shown episode of the British long-running cop-show The Bill., It focused on a new female recruit, busty and pretty. She was making puppy-dog eyes to a male officer. In the end, they were on a night out, and the female whispered a proposition into the horny copper's ear, and he went to her place. She had told him to go in and get ready, which he did. So, in his birthday suit, she reveals, through thrown open French doors, all the relief, and her friends, stood watching him in the buff. Now I am sure you know my question: What if the gender roles were reversed. Of course, Me Too has the ubiquitous "Snowflake" moniker that they would band about as a get out to any comparative argument. Still, I would demand it. If in an episode of CSi, A man gets a naked girl alone in his flat and reveals all the lads behind a curtain getting an eyeful.. this would be rightly disgusting. So there is a case for it. Calling someone a snowflake in an intelligent argument is a bit like telling a lesbian that she just hasn't met the right man. In other words, it is idiotic and base and has no place in a serious debate. Maybe that is not what the catwalk-suffragettes want. Certainly, the movement is not known for its transparency and willingness to discuss.
Could it be that the movement is only interested in winning battles they have backed? A sort of union for the rich? Happy to sanction and support where the gender of the person involved points them. The truth is irrelevant. When someone is proven innocent, rather than apologise, I hear them sounding off about poetic justice. Talking about a struggle they know nothing about.
We must recall that the justice system says innocent till proven guilty. As repellent as Harvey Weinstein is, and as clearly (to us) Kevin Spacey is a predator, until convicted who the hell are any of us to pass judgment? Yes, they are probably guilty. Yet if you recall, so were The Maguire family and the Conlon's (Guiseppe Conlon died an innocent man "probably guilty" in one of Her Majesty's prisons). We must NOT use our belief as a means of conviction - that is not enough. If you think it is okay in this case, let me ask you this, who draws the line? Is it you? If so, where do you draw it? What if it is a grey area, we want our justice system to punish, we must follow it. Their time will come.
Cat-calling at a public event, I am sorry, is not worthy of anyone with half a brain.
Do we never learn? Guildford Four, Birmingham Six, Jill Dando, Facilitated Communication cases, Scarsboro boys, and countless other examples and philosophies. There is even a case, supposedly, for not prosecuting false accusers because they are "mentally unstable". So f**king what? That is the worst kind of liberal claptrap. What about the person falsely imprisoned for thirteen years, fed razor blades in his potatoes, his face split open weekly because he is a "nonce"? In justice, and I also think in life, if there are two schools of thought, you take the fairest, A sort of Ockham's razor for the scales. Only the most warped hate-filled person would choose anything other than an innocent person going to jail. Still, read The Guardian, it happens... it is happening.
Add to that, anyone arguing the "Don't Know" case, please go read The Beano. A philosophy of such lunacy gets no print here. Google it, it is eye-watering.
So why am I no so fresh on the current scene? I am not a misogynist, a woman-hater, or a sexist. I live with a wife and daughter. I worship them both. That is my lot. That is what makes me see with clarity. Do right for those that need and require it. Not that want it. If you just want something, go get it. Stop exploiting the zeitgeist to avoid work or boost the ego.
I want to fight for victims of domestic violence, religious persecution, females in slavery, I am here for and will fight for girls experiencing forced female genital mutilation (I don't use "FGM" as it is too friendly and ignorable) and I mean not just in the third world, but in places such as Canada. if you click the link to read this article about it, please be prepared for a traumatic read.
What is equally sickening is bratty rich West-London Primrose Hill rich brats such as Lily Allen or Lisa Moorish exploiting, apologising, lying about experiences, and relentless self--promoting to get the most value out of it. All the while cynically masquerading under the banner of national benevolence. You do not speak for us. You are not qualified.
It was bad enough with the overseas stuff but when they start defending people who have committed premeditated crimes (I refer mostly to the Uk Tottenham Riots) purely because they have had a tough upbringing. What utter rot. Typical left-for-the-sake-of-it bourgeois garbage. The sort of crap you find on a teenage pencil-case along with 'Ban the Bomb' and CND slogans. Yet impressionable young people see this and think that is how to think and consider such immature prat-falls as "being political". Just like Rick from 'The Young Ones'
We must resist this rubbish. We are not in Bosnia, the Kosovan police are not killing and raping people on the street - we are pampered westerners. We get handouts, bus passes, free dental care, housing benefit. How reassuring it must be to slaves in diamond mines and people who have been butchered by Phalangists in North Africa that in the UK they have fellow sufferers standing up to the oppressors because they have to take TWO buses to sign on now. Is it all relative? Is it bollocks. So no, Miss (or Ms) Moorish, go back up Primrose Hill with Blur and Sadie Frost and Keith Allen and sit on your high horse and take a look at the world. See what damage your words and self-fulfilling schemes can cause. The women who are in need are the ones we must care for.
Do we think Madam Curie ever said "girl power"? Was Sister Harriet Tubman, ever heard to say, "as a woman" in a smug pout before EVERY statement, using it to mask a vapid and banal point? Can you imagine Margaret Thatcher pissing on about marginal statistics rather than taking ownership? Sylvia Plath wearing black to awards (WTF) or Georgia O'Keefe thinking karaoke of Beyonce is the same as moderate feminism? No, these were women, and a mere blip of the number of women, who changed the world without expecting to be able to behave however they want and use having a vagina to justify it when called to account? They did not start claiming rape or molestation when things got a little quiet. If anyone (and Me Too has done it plenty) stick up for females (or males) who do malign, innocent-life ruining stuff like that, they deserve to be forgotten and abused. Remember, before getting cross, I am saying that girls who lie about sexual assault for revenge, power, to avoid answering for something, or simply twisted kicks, deserve severe punishment. So if you either are idiotic enough to say that doesn't happen or immaturely toxic enough to say it is acceptable, then I wish you to stop reading here, as it will be way above your bubblehead (and that is in no way aimed at women exclusively. Pansy apologist wetheads are even worse.
Still. that is just a personal bugbear. I am sure there is a wealth of differing opinions. There always is. So let us look at what I hope that at least some of you will agree with me on.
The spoiled rich women, the starlets, the ones who wouldn't know oppressed if it ran up and stole their place in the Reiki waiting room. Whilst there are millions of girls being forced to marry aged nine, then forced to conceive and possibly die in childbirth, because there are plenty of other child brides to be had in Somalia, I will care about them. Whilst there are Isis controlled Shi'ite slaves, I will care about them. Whilst whole communities are being held hostages, fathers killed and daughters raped by soldiers in militia-controlled towns and villages in Eastern Europe, Central America, and Syria, I will care about them. I do not give a toss about female Oscar winners, boardroom members, construction magnates, and football referees. To fix a problem tree you do not attack the easy hanging fruit, you dig out the deep, entrenched, protected roots. Otherwise, the tree goes rotten and the fruit will stop growing. I could take this analogy a lot further. I see a lot of smug, entitled, accountability-shirking women, shrieking about not enough winners of best director, or a woman playing James Bond. Guess what?, There are not as many female toll-booth attendants, there are more male park-toilet cleaners, and there are more male tube drivers. Strange I am yet to hear Meryl Streep bring that up. Apparently, the Interpol list of Europe's ten most wanted criminals is all female. I have not heard Rose Mcgowan boast about that?
As for all these media portrayals of female leads and all-girl remakes, they are a farce If any feminist sees that, and things like the Admiral in Admiral Car Insurance adverts being a woman, as anything other than insulting tokenist panhandle scratch, well the movement has certainly lost its brains as well as its wit.
Another of my feminist wants? Well, I hold a particular passion as regards domestic violence. It drives me insane thinking about it. Remember at school, being picked on? I do. It only lasted a few months and I ended up tormenting my tormentors due to social advancement. Regardless, even if it had carried on, I would have been free of it after a few years. That would still have been utter HELL. It would have scarred me for life, and does many others. That is for a few years in school, a place that you have to go to. Now imagine it for ten times as long, and in the place you call home. Being petrified all day and every day, having nowhere to call safe. Even when times may be good, knowing that the wrong remark, or external event, or misplaced item of cutlery, will change it all and cause another bloody nose, and the pain and terror that follows. More physical abuse, that you have to wait for because he/she (and it is mostly he) knows dragging it out hurts you more. That destroys me to know my fellow humans have to endure it. There is no doubt that women are the majority of sufferers. Often it is the church, patriarchy, family pressure, or fear of ostracisation. Whatever it is, lets fight for that. Stop all that and I will give my all to help. True persecution. There is no finer crusade, in my opinion.
So in conclusion, please keep quiet about selfish crusades. Frankly Jada Pinkett-Smith, I don't want to hear you sound off. Women in heavy metal is not a priority. Anyway
who on earth are you to talk about nepotism and unfairness? How many better actors and musicians are out there than your kids? I see one of them busking (she was terrible) at Tottenham Court Road station to raise her profile for the Prada launch. THE PRADA FUCKING LAUNCH!?!? Shallow, inconsequential celebrity flotsam. Keep out of my capital city, trying to garner points for a billionaires product range! How dare you. Trying to be "of the people" whilst representing Prada? How misguided are you? Fair enough your kid was good in The Karate Kid, but I bet that was borne of professional lessons. As after that came....' After Earth'.....need I say more. You are the worst kind of elitist pigs and come the revolution, you and the Fresh Prince and junior one, two, three and however many else there are can all act together in a production of Fuck off Back to Obscurity Please, performed worldwide by an all-female cast. I would support that.