Social media has created an environment in which some single topic encapsulated in a hashtag gains disproportionate news coverage by the ‘band waggon’ effect, and results in ill-considered shifts in societal norms.
The #MeToo tag, which does have valid elements in seeking to bring attention to male abuse, has resulted in the extrapolation of the febrile dialogue to an ‘anti-man’ polemic driven by mostly feminist pedagogues to a range of unrelated issues.
Amelia Gentleman (yes, such an oddly inappropriate name!) – see https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/25/men-only-clubs-and-menace-how-the-establishment-maintains-male-power – rages against the ‘pay gap’ and demonstrates not only a poor grasp of logic, but an even weaker understanding of basic statistics. However, she reserves her principle invective against ‘men only’ clubs; space precludes listing the ills she concludes they bring to all aspects of society.
This theme is taken up by her Guardian colleague, Robert Verkaik, who even argues – bizarrely – that such clubs are a threat to the very democratic fabric of the country – https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/27/to-drain-the-swamp-of-men-only-clubs-there-must-be-a-public-register . Clearly, the environment of the Guardian ferments paranoia.
Clearly, the move is to condemn single gender clubs as being irredeemably bad, and such a threat that regulation and legislation is required to control them. If they do represent a threat to democracy, they are singularly feeble in attempts to usurp it, since (for example) White’s has been operating in this mode since 1693, since when it would seem democracy has flourished – this month is the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918.
But wait; less visible in the news is the rapid growth of female only clubs, whose goals are remarkably similar to those of the men’s clubs; as just a sample thereof
http://kitkatclub.co.uk/about http://londonladiesclub.com/ http://www.theallbright.com/
Where is MP ‘gobby’ Jess Phillips ? Where is Amelia Gentleperson (note grumpy’s PC credentials here) or Robert Ver-whoever who doesn’t even warrant an entry in Wikipedia, but seeks to pontificate on threats to the very fabric of the country and society ? Why are they not condemning the existence of these single gender clubs ?
Grumpy feels that the real threat to society driven by the followers of #MeToo is a transition to a culture in which due process is abandoned. Some Twitter subscriber accuses a prominent person of some often vague ‘abuse’ (many of which such incidents would have simply no chance of legal redress, not being crimes per se), whereupon trial by social media hysteria forces their dismissal and public humiliation. Meanwhile, those more rational pillars of the establishment, who should insist on proper procedures, capitulate to avoid being labelled as complicit.
The real threat to society is the return to a sort of 21st Century version of the collective madness of the Salem Witch Trials, with the pitchfork of Twitter and the stocks of Facebook.
When women are assaulted, the law provides a framework for the trial and if relevant the punishment of the offender. If the law is inadequate to address some scenarios, then the it is the role of Jess Phillips and her ilk to push for change, and not to join (or lead, in the case of prissy Yvette Cooper) the mob.