Must View: The unmaking of Jessica Valenti and the "Rape Culture" meme

[Puffin StuffParticipant 24979]

Perhaps the most powerful message about the rape hysteria currently gripping our nation today, you must view it if you take this stuff seriously.

Introductin from AVfM:

In November 2014, Brown University hosted a debate between two very different feminists, one of which was Jessica Valenti. Unfortunately for her, the other one was Wendy McElroy. As you are about to see, McElroy destroyed Valenti before she could take a sip of male tears or indeed utter a single word.

This was such a bad showing for Valenti (and a brilliant one for McElroy) that Valenti and her agent have, according to our sources, threatened legal actions against those publishing this video, including Wendy McElroy. It was removed from YouTube after a DMCA complaint, despite the fact that there is no evidence so far that Valenti has any claim to the copyright of the video, which was filmed by Brown University. Brown reportedly does not release contract details about their videos. That fact makes this a news story, which allows us under law to report on it and include the video.

#icethemout; Remember Thomas Ball. He died for your children.

[chirParticipant]

Jessica got owned so bad, no wonder why her and her sycophants are so desperate to make sure no one sees this video.

It is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion, it is by the beans of Java that thoughts acquire speed, the hands acquire shaking, the shaking becomes a warning; it is by caffeine alone I set my mind in motion.

[FrankOneParticipant 1427]

I watched this in its entirety. I have read Wendy McElroy in Reason magazine for years but was unaware she had been a rape victim.

I came of age in the 1980’s when Universities were establishing and expanding Black Studies, Women’s Studies, and other departments. It seemed to me at the time these Departments were merely established as political payoffs and represent identity politics at its worst. Don’t get me wrong, some groups have been oppressed in the past, such as blacks in the South. And learning this history and the history of the Civil Rights movement, for instance, is a good thing. However, the way it is taught, is so wrong. For instance, few students learn about how groups such as Irish and Eastern Europeans were discriminated against and stereotyped, because that does not conform with a narrative that white males may only be oppressors.

But is the best path forward maintaining a narrative of oppression, or encouraging hard work and success? I don’t even feel the University should sponsor groups like the Society of Women Engineers. There is certainly nothing wrong with promoting departments, but selectively promoting them to certain races or genders seems unfair. These departments are hotbeds for political activism and groupthink. No dissenters from their regulatory groupthink need apply. And I am dead set against public money to scholarships favoring one group over another. Scholarships should be based on financial need and academic performance.

I think rape is a terrible crime, but politicizing it is not the answer. Campaigns and billboards will do no more to reduce it than they will to reduce murder or theft. The media does a terrible job with follow up. Emma Sulcowich ‘Mattress Girl’ is a classic example. She is a liar. She ought to be prosecuted for the injury she did to the man she accused. It would be great to see a campaign to fund this.

But her lies do not agree with the rape culture meme, so the lame stream media gives it scant coverage.

The truth about rape is that it is rare and decreasing when one examines crime statistics in the U.S.

Today a majority realize OJ Simpson was guilty. But in the 90’s it was split across racial lines much more strongly. People need to move past blaming groups — men and blacks may commit more crimes statistically, but that does not mean all black males are rapists. Crimes are committed by individuals, not groups.

I wholeheartedly agree rapes should be investigated by police, not Universities.

[FrankOneParticipant 1427]

I meant to add, rape is a crime committed by individuals, not groups. That Is absolutely central to this discussion.

It should also be added that one can reduce their likelihood of rape. Just as I can choose to go to bars late and night, and doing so will increase my chances of being killed by a drunk driver leaving at 2am. I can choose to go into high crime neighborhoods after dark or take walks in them after dark, which will increase my likelihood of being robbed. If I routinely get so drunk I black out, as many college students do, then I am not even able to consent, whether I am male or female.

Rampant college drinking would be safer if it took place in bars, so lowering the drinking age to 18 would also make for safer campuses. That was always better from a safety standpoint. The drunken students could stumble back to their dorms often without need of driving.

[Anonymous 29]

The second best thing about the clip was the way Valenti was rattled. The body language, she could barely control herself.

[FrankOneParticipant 1427]

I think it’s also important to note, even if Sulcowicz WASN’T a fraud, a single person evading justice due to rule of law, doesn’t constitute a ‘rape culture’. Someone may murder another citizen, but we cannot prove it. Does that mean we have a ‘murder culture’.

One of the most surprising features of this to me, is that someone like McElroy was even invited to speak before a University such as Brown. This is NOT a topic it’s permitted to have diverging opinions on at a Politically Correct campus. Don’t believe me? Due to student opposition, two ADDITIONAL events were staged at the same time, one with a faculty member presenting ‘research’ on ‘rape culture’. If anybody has a link to said ‘research’, please post it.

http://dailyhowler.blogspot.com/2015/03/supplemental-what-wendy-mcelroy-said-at.html

Their opposition sparked the staging of two additional events at Brown — at the same time as the debate — since the President of the University got involved, a faculty member will present research on rape culture in the Building for Environmental Research and Teaching, and BWell Health Promotion will host a “safe space” for emotional support in Salomon. The ‘safe space’ included play doh, cookies, coloring books, and calming music. And no, I’m not making this s~~~ up. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/22/opinion/sunday/judith-shulevitz-hiding-from-scary-ideas.html?_r=0

What the f~~~ is a ‘safe space’? McElroy was not promoting rape. As a victim of violence she has a hell of a lot more credibility than Valenti.

I work at a location near a high crime neighborhood. Nobody is saying we have a ‘theft culture’. And there are some good people who live in the neighborhood. But it also has some hooligans. Just like rape, theft is committed by INDIVIDUALS.

Wendy McElroy’s brand of ‘feminism’ is Individualist Feminism — a very different sort than Valenti’s.

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