Teen Vogue columnist Emily Lindin is under fire this week after writing how she is “not at all concerned about innocent men losing their jobs” over false allegations of sexual assault or harassment. Lindin dismissed the dangers of false claims as low in joining other feminist writers in arguing that women must be believed in such cases. Indeed, Lindin wrote that even raising false claims could be a sign of hostility to women. I wrote recently how this standard was not used during the Clinton presidency where leading feminists not only supported Bill Clinton but continue to flock to events featuring the alleged sexual harasser and assaulter.
Lindin insisted that “false allegations VERY rarely happen, so even bringing it up borders on a derailment tactic. It’s a microscopic risk in comparison to the issue at hand (worldwide, systemic oppression of half the population).”
In her best Madame Thérèse Defarge imitation, Lindin declared “The benefit of all of us getting to finally tell the truth + the impact on victims FAR outweigh the loss of any one man’s reputation. If some innocent men’s reputations have to take a hit in the process of undoing the patriarchy, that is a price I am absolutely willing to pay.”
Of course, she will not have to pay that price because she is a woman and therefore always to be believed under her approach. Nevertheless, she goes on to justify the disinterest in the innocence of men by focusing on how women have been historically abused: “How many of our reputations have suffered unfairly? How many of our lives have ALREADY BEEN destroyed because of physical violence against us? Why was that acceptable, but now one man’s (potentially) unfair loss of a career opportunity is not?” Thus, because women have been abused, Lindin insisted they are entitled to abuse a certain percentage of men.
While the actual rate of false claims is subject to great debate, feminist writers often cite the figure of a three percent false reporting rate to justify rule changes (particularly on college campuses) that reduce due process protections for the accused. The source for the figure is rarely cited but may be a study published in 2010 in a symposium on violence against women. That study however found a rate of between 2% and 10%. However, this report focused on reported criminal sexual assaults and rapes. There is a vast difference in the type of cases involving sexual harassment and criminal assault. The step of reporting a crime to police is a significant one, including the added risk of being charged with filing a false police report. Allegations of sexual harassment or civil assault are generally protected at workplaces or schools. I expect that the rate of false claims is still quite low and there continues to be a serious problem in encouraging women to come forward when subjected to this type of abuse. However, the basis for the statistic cited by Lindin is unclear.
Of course, even if the three percent figure is accurate, it does not justify the dismissive approach of people like Lindin toward due process and innocence. The touchstone of a nation committed to the rule of law is that we do not change our approach based on general presumptions of guilt of any class of suspects. More importantly, respecting due process does not mean a lack of commitment to enforcement. This the same canard that led the Obama Administration to force schools to strip their students of due process rights in sexual harassment cases. It is also the same argument used by many people to sent terrorism suspects to military tribunals rather than our federal courts. We have a system of criminal and civil adjudication that can deter such conduct and crimes without tossing aside our core values.
Conversely, I have also been critical of those who say that when public figures like Roy Moore or Bill Clinton deny sexual assaults, we should accept those denials pending unlikely criminal or civil cases. For public figures, we have to make a judgment about the credibility of allegations. I found the allegations against both Clinton and Moore credible and have noted that people continue to adopt equally questionable bias in who (and when) they choose to believe victims in such cases.
Lindin, who writes on feminist topics like “slut shaming'”, sexist dress codes, and other how to send nude photos of oneself, responded to the criticism by taking her social media postings private. Like many columnists who write solely from one perspective and topic, Lindin sees most everything in gender terms. Thus, in listing how not to “slut shame,” she notes “I wasn’t allowed to dance by myself in the middle of a dance floor. And it was only because I was a girl.” Well, boys likely feel the same pressure not to dance alone in the middle of a dance floor. Indeed, in my experience, girls feel more comfortable dancing with other girls than boys do with other boys. However, this type of low-grade analysis is pushed by Conde Nast to capture an insulated audience for writers like Lindin. Her pieces have titles like “Why You Should Stop ‘Playing Hard to Get’ and Start Masturbating” (discussing her own experiences at aged 10). In some columns, she makes rather surprising representations like her insistence that growing up she heard the term “slut” used to her “as often as I heard my own name.”
In the meantime, Teen Vogue’s parent company, Conde Nast, simply did not respond to journalists who asked for a response (It is not clear if Conde Nast still considers itself part of a journalistic enterprise and, if it does, how it squares with refusing to answer questions from the media.
Characterizing Bill Clinton as a “sexual harasser” is tantamount to describing Jack the Ripper as an “abuser of women.” Good grief, Prof. Turley.
Autumn, Steve’s friend is playing a good game. Data on longevity and marriage are mixed but some studies seem to indicate that a benefit for marriage doesn’t tend to be noticeable until one is elderly, when having someone around to alert a medical professional is advantageous. If my observations of the snowbird crowd are valid, there will be plenty of interested woman alive and attentive when Steve’s friend is that age.
CCS – my 100-year-old male friend has a female after him. 🙂 No one is safe. 😉
PCS, that is the truth! BTW, reading another Mann Booker prize winner–Lincoln in the Bardo.
CCS – I will put it on my list. I found an anthology of American Lit Colonial to Romantics and reading each of the entries. Usually, when you take the course they just have you read x amount of the entries. However, I decided that I needed to fill some holes in my education. 🙂 Enigma turned me on to Devil in the Grove, which is excellent, but sickening. Almost finished with that.
PCS–I home schooled my older son from 8th grade to 12th grade. I recall American Lit: Jonathan Edwards “Sinners in the Hands….”, “Young Goodman Brown”, Melville, Poe, etc. Good stuff. I still have the Brit Lit textbook we used as I intend to read it straight through one of these cold, dark winters. Thanks for the rec on Devil in the Grove.
CCS – give the credit to Enigma for Devil in the Grove, I am only passing it on. When I was teaching in college, I had all the anthologies because you could get them to send them to you as a teacher’s copy. Just tell them you were thinking of using for your class and they were licking your boots. After I retired I gave them away. I never took Am Lit in college, took World Lit and Eng Lit, those were painful enough. 😉 I think I have healed enough to do Am Lit. 😉
PCS–I taught American Lit coincident with Amer History. It made more sense to me to teach son the literature that was reflective of the public sentiment and events that were occurring at that time. It worked for us. And I was able to “fill in the holes,” as you say, in my own education.
CCS – that is how the humanities should be taught – the history, lit, music and art of the era. Sounds like you provided a well-rounded curriculum for your son. Sigh – this age of teaching to the test and kids learning to memorize “facts” w/o context is producing subservient, non questioning youth.
Thanks, Autumn, I did the best I could. One distinct advantage was not having to do standardized tests.
Speaking of which, did you ever see this?
http://thefederalist.com/2017/10/25/bill-gates-tacitly-admits-common-core-experiment-failure/
Bill Gates was a totalitarian via Common Core – I remember a few years ago watching a video about an elementary scool teacher in FL who was disciplined for deviating from the script – how? She realized how overwhelming it is for 1st graders and read them a story a few days a week! CC alarms any sane parent.
This trend began with Dubya and Obama continued it – social engineering by corporate interests is non partisan.
one of the most interesting books on US education I ever read was Dumbing Us Down by Paul Taylor Gatto
I love Gatto’s books. Yep on everything else you said.
It took Gates a long time and a lot of money to realize that education like so many things grows organically. The destruction, of course, comes from those that believe they can force their vision on others.
CCS – with this anthology, you find some of the holes that you did not know existed. 🙂 That is part of the fun. I took Am Lit in h.s., but I didn’t read the people I am reading now.
One thing I was able to do with son was read Moby Dick because the local library picks a book every year for the whole town to read. The whole winter was filled with movies, lectures (e.g., Nathaniel Philbrick), discussions, etc. which supplemented our education. It was a really great experience, although Moby Dick was a grind to read.
CCS – if it makes you feel any better Moby Dick was not very popular when it was first written. And yes, it is a grind. He could have cut the book in half and had a better novel. But that is just my opinion.
PCS–he should have cut the marine biology and knot discussions and kept with the narrative arc.
CC, that is quite a feat and requires a lot of work. If you wish to answer, why did you homeschool and why in those grades? How did you manage to get satisfactory interaction with other kids his age?
Allan, my older son has Asperger’s syndrome. I pulled him out of public school in CA when he hit 6th grade because the schools lump the special needs kids with the kids they’ve given up on. He was in a private school (with his younger brother) for a couple of years, where some of the teachers did their level best to break him (even though he was the smartest kid in his grade), then I home schooled both my sons for a couple of years. CA public schools generally suck, and Cape public schools aren’t much better. We did social training via group therapy throughout adolescence and high school on a weekly basis. Most of the participants had more severe issues than my son, so he didn’t get much out of them. Older son didn’t really crave social interaction until college.
“because the schools lump the special needs kids with the kids they’ve given up on.”
You did the right thing. I am not impressed with public school education. We need far more parent involvement especially for children that fall out of the so-called normal range that our educators seem to teach to.
It seems more and more people are being diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome. If your son was doing reasonably well in the regular class I can’t understand why they would lump him with special needs kids and since California is so ‘diversity oriented’ why this form of diversity (especially in high functioning kids) isn’t embraced.
Allan, it’s been a long time since then, and I don’t recall the particulars, but son’s IEP came from northern VA, where the public schools are excellent. If we had started out in CA, the school admin would never have accepted his diagnosis (BTW, his AS is inherited, not environmental) and offered him services. Due to Prop 13, the influx of illegals, and No Child Left a Dime, CA schools are a mess. Son’s science class in middle school would have been taught by an Indian woman with a very strong accent. I had a conversation with her and realized I would have had a hard time following her lectures. Not good for a kid with auditory processing issues. Some therapies would have been in a room with delinquents and druggies. He could have done the classwork easily, it was an issue of associated negatives that made the situation unacceptable.
CCS re “No Child Left a Dime” love it! I had only heard “Every Child Left Behind”
CCS – good point! =) Certainly marriage isn’t the answer for everyone.
Autumn, a divorced female friend once told me “Men live longer with a woman, women live longer with a dog.” 🙂
CCS – possibly true. Although personally I’m a cat and guinea pig lover. Animals bring so much to enhance people’s lives no matter the species. When I visit someone who dorsn’t have books or an animal I feel like there is something wrong =)
Autumn, I love guinea pigs, my hubbie and I had two when we were younger. They were sweet animals. Can’t do cats…..I developed an allergy in grad school after living with 4 Maine coon cats. I favor your opinion WRT people, books and animals.
CCS – I have always had Peruvians – guinea wigs. They are not as smart as the short hairs, but I find them so beautiful. Cuurent one is Tiberius – name them after Roman tyrants as they can be so demanding. Love Maine Coons. I always wanted a hybrid – Savannah or Bengal but they are too expensive. Then these folks with 2 (!!) Bengals moved in next door and I changed my mind – gorgeous creatures but so wild and destructive everything breakable has to be glued into place,
So now I have a shelter ginger tabby.
Autumn, IIRC, we started with an inherited short-hair (Ceilidh), then had a Peruvian named Chanter….I loved their whistling and hopping. Your names are great. Yeah, cats can be extreme forces of nature, for sure. We have two adopted shelter dogs, both elderly and very sweet.
A friend of mine was accused of sexual assault. It was by a real parrot. The parrot said: Donald porked me.
If they lock Donald up then the parrot will have to be given a lie detector test.
Should not lie detector testing be a topic when this topic of sexual assaults comes up so often?
Polygraph. Polly wants a cracker.
So everybody hasta wear a bodycam all the time…
An interesting question is whether the public expression of this sentiment makes Lindin a liability to either her current employer or some future employer. Would any smart employer hire someone who openly acknowledges this sort of bias? If Lindin ever files a harassment claim or supervises other employees when a harassment claim is filed, her statement will NOT look good in court. Welcome to the world of I-Remember-What-You-Said.
I think Lindin is trying to supply the position of apologist for Allred in the Moore case. Sorry, but as I said in another thread – there is no credibility in relying on the ‘credibility of the accuser’ when the counsel for the accuser publicly chokes multiple times when questioned over the veracity of her own ‘hard’ evidence allegedly basing the accuser’s credibility. Call it a self-contradiction if need be.
Instead, Lindin ought just call for the evidence to be weighed where it can- in this case the yearbook to be examined. A few short hours from now Moore will either be gone or Allred will. But at least we’ll have clarity rather than flimsy politically tinged apologetics.
“Lindin insisted that “false allegations VERY rarely happen, so even bringing it up borders on a derailment tactic. It’s a microscopic risk in comparison to the issue at hand (worldwide, systemic oppression of half the population).””
What about the saying that it’s better to let a hundred guilty men go free than hang an innocent man? It was my understanding that our criminal justice system set a high bar specifically to protect the innocent from false accusation.
She seems to be unacquainted with the Golden Rule. She would not be so sanguine if it was her word was instantly doubted because of the gender of her accuser, or if someone proclaimed that they were unconquered if she was falsely accused, jailed, and her life ruined, all because of actions before she was born.
All accusations should be investigated and proven, regardless of the gender, race, ethnicity, or religion of the perpetrator or victim. Gender is immaterial to honesty. If a criminal or civil case does not move forward, then we need something other than the accuser’s word. We need a pattern of behavior, observation of inappropriate behavior…something, anything to take it beyond he said she said. If all else fails, and all we have is someone’s word, then it falls back to who has been the closest to a model citizen in their lifetime.
I read a study where a conservative estimate of false accusations of sexual assault were 8%. If nearly 10% of women accused of a crime could be innocent, one would think that Lindin would take issue. I do not think “microscopic” means what she thinks it means.
This is one of the trends of the far Left that has so dismayed me over the past few years. They are increasingly the party of intolerance, bigotry, the erosion of individual and Constitutional rights, and supporter of a very powerful central government. Her position is that she brags about bias of one gender over another in criminal complaints. That’s not something to be proud of; it’s bigotry.
Women can absolutely lie and take revenge, just like men. I worked with a woman who got pregnant on purpose because the boyfriend she wanted to keep wanted to break up with her. The short-sighted girl got pregnant on purpose, they still broke up, and now whatever women he dates, who do not have a post pregnancy body, get to babysit her child on his custody days. She’ll never be free of him now – even after her daughter turns 18, he’ll still be around for all the big events. She lied about her birth control, not sexual assault, in this case. But her gender certainly did not make her more honest than a male.
Sorry, I got the quote wrong:
“In criminal law, Blackstone’s formulation (also known as Blackstone’s ratio or the Blackstone ratio) is the principle that:
“It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”,
…as expressed by the English jurist William Blackstone in his seminal work, Commentaries on the Laws of England, published in the 1760s.
Historically, the details of the ratio have varied, but the message that government and the courts must err on the side of innocence has remained constant.”
I suppose it works for her to sell more books to pander to her customer base. If she believes her own non-sense then she is less a business owner and more of a fool.
Okay, I have read the 16 comments before mine and we mostly agree Ms. Lindin is a twit. Personally, I never heard a girl called a slut until I was out of college. I can tell you that jr high and high school girls can be vicious to each other. I have seen stuff that goes far beyond “Mean Girls”. They can damage your reputation with the boys with lightning speed. So, what she is blaming on the boys, she should first be blaming on the girls. What did Ms. Lindin do for the girls at her school to tag her as a slut? Did they catch her in the lavatory at school masturbating? That would have ruined her reputation at my school.
It’s a good thing that direct exposure to utter morons does not harm me other than the dismay I feel in the presence of transcendentally stupid people on a soapbox.
Much of the work done to advance “women’s liberation” in the 60’s and 70’s was done by men. Me included. I now wonder if we were mistaken. A false rape charge is pretty much the end of any man when made public, whether or not he did it. I get the first story, you can have all the rest. I didn’t work for equality for women to have some bitch not care if my life is ruined by an accuser with another agenda. I advise prudence; we are still around, and we are probably not the folks you really wish to alienate. Take another look. No person should be falsely charged with anything. We are not “all men.”
Why in hell’s name is this ADULT woman writing on behalf of teens and pre-teens? I’ll tell you why, because the dying Conde Nast companies need to publish shocking garbage articles to attract readers. Ms. Lindin, and so many of the other snowflake millennials encouraging these type of accusations, desperately need lessons in what feminism is really about, because attacking others without any burden of proof is 100% unacceptable. May the tables be turned on all of you to experience first-hand the repercussions of exactly the damage you propose!
This is where today’s nouveau Maoism takes us. We’re almost at the point where everyone is presumed guilty and must fight for their own exhoneration – unless you are a member of the protected class. No one seems worried about it though when social media offers a perfectly find echo chamber and alternative reality to reside in.
Emily is young and writes for a younger audience, so I forgive her naivite. The way forward to make permanent, positive change in workplace environments is to focus on success, not failure. Here’s an idea for an article, Emily. Go out and find some work environments where men and women synergize, but observe proper respect and boundaries sexually. Dig deep into men (and women) who inhabit these places, especially the leaders. Describe exemplary men and women and their mindsets. Find out how they developed into those personas. That is, if you’re really interested in significant change.
If all you can do is to dwell on failure, Emily, and put negative exemplars and experiences out in front, you’ll have very little lasting impact.
Because she writes for a younger audience, she should be far more prudent and forward thinking than this. She’s telling the next generation that in the name of tolerance, equality, or whatever, that it is ok to presume guilt even if that means someone’s life is ruined.
I agree, she could have written a far more effective item by doing the things you suggested.
Emily seems like the type of woman to cut off a nose to spite the face as long as it isn’t her nose or her face.
Perhaps you will all understand why I don’t immediately start attacking men. Women lie. Sometimes for the sympathy making her more popular.
Rape is easily proven if you go to a hospital right away and they use the rape kit to test the vagina for semen and keep the evidence safe until any court need.
Maybe all of this constant talk about harassment will empower women to get help. Hospital even if no rape, but injury.
All of these people are in danger of losing the jobs they have. And if untrue what does a man do?
JT continues to claim that he finds the allegations, levied against Moore, to be credible. Credible? Credible, based upon what information which would lend credence to the accusations? Credible, based upon what hard and solid facts? Credible, based upon what investigation or investigation? Credible, based upon what solid proof? Credible, based upon some middle-aged women, strangely and inexplicably, remaining silent, for four decades, and, suddenly, deciding to speak about some alleged sexual encounters, from forty years ago, and doing so only before an election? That kind of credible? Credible, because these women, and their respective past histories, have been vetted and thoroughly investigated? Credible, because these women have led pristine and upstanding lives–lives devoid of lies and deceit? Strangely, in an article, where some idiot is featured because she declares that she–yes, she–is willing to pay the price if some men will be unfairly and unjustly accused of sexual wrongs, JT continues to dig his heels into a similarly flawed and utterly dangerous mentality. The mentality of immediately believing, without any proof, any person coming forward with accusations and tales of sexual impropriety and, without much more, grants said accusations credibility. Outrageous. The mentality of hoping that the accusations will, ultimately, catch enough of the wrongdoers and that those, unfortunate souls, who, unfairly, get caught in the mix, with false accusations, where their lives and reputations have been destroyed. . .oh, well. . .gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelette. All a part of the process. It’s odd, that someone, with JT’s background, education and intelligence, has descended into this madness. Descended to the point where accusers are to be believed. . .not based upon facts, not based upon proof, not based upon anything. . .anything, at all. A declaration of credibility, given to random, unvetted, uninvestigated, accusers, because doing so, makes him one of the gang. Popular. A real hero for all the women who have been abused. Doing so, makes him appear to be a supporter of women’s rights. In actuality, it’s the polar opposite. It’s really support for the denial of rights and due process, where random and unsubstantiated accusations are given a green light to destroy lives. For shame, JT!!
Suggestion to BamBam — write under your real name. It will immediately come across less snarky and unbalanced.
This femi nazi needs to watch “The Red Pill” of course there’s always the possibility that she is just trying to get attention in this era of click bait “journalism”
FWIW – one thing I’ve noticed about some women I know who are in their twenties is how the “casual hook ups” are not working for them – many have high levels of anxiety and even take sleeping pills !!
Autumn, You are a valuable resource. I will watch the Red Pill.
Looking forward to hearing your take Nick. The filmmaker is young and open-minded enough to listen to and wrestle with a wholly different POV – wish more folks would do the same, I
Da use of el rushbo’s term feminazis is very very valuable.
Thank goodness for articles like this. Many people are tired of so much focus on false flag operations, the ever-widening gap between the rich and everyone else, schemes to keep U.S. military forces in Syria, threats to start wars in Iran and maybe NK and Russia as well as threats to overthrow democratically elected leaders in Venezuela, Ecuador, and Bolivia. And who isn’t tired about hearing how Trump is going to stop illegal immigration and deport the millions of illegals already here.
Let’s hear it for more Ms. Magazine-type articles.
BMW – LOL
Emily Lindin = Madame Thérèse Defarge Top notch.
But can she knit like Mme. Defarge? Probably not since that was a skill practiced in the old, repressive Ancien Régime. Modern womyn like Lindin are probably lacking in many life skills and certainly would not want to be pigeonholed into a knitter persona, for example. /s
Observer, Lindin has more modern ways to create her reign of terror against men.
So, let me get this straight. Lindin is willing to “risk” unfairly ruining someone else’s reputation in order to eliminate sexual assault/harassment. Methinks she does not comprehend the word “risk”. Is she willing to “risk” unfairly ruining her own reputation by falsely accusing her of plagiarism in order to eliminate such practices?
Sexual assault/harassment is, of course, not about sex at all. It is about power. Today’s situation also is not about sex. It, too, is about power. The movement is about replacing the power of “I can rape you and get away with it” to “I can ruin your life by accusing you and, even if the accusation is false, get away with it.”
I do not believe that the solution to an imbalance of power is to shift the imbalance to the other side. I believe it is to create balance. What is happening today is not creating balance. If I was a male person in public life I would be very afraid, even if I had never done anything.
In today’s atmosphere, if you start dating a female and decide to date her no longer, you are in great danger. If she gets pissed off that you are no longer dating her she can ruin your life with a simple accusation.
Friend of mine – late 50’s – is paying a young woman for weekly visits.
He points out that it is a lot cheaper than dating, this woman is much younger/prettier than his “target market”, he is guaranteed to score, there are no games, and he doesn’t have to deal with entitled 50 year old women. (Unspoken but implied is that by avoiding marriage, he avoids the possible horrendous costs of divorce, support payments and property splits,)
While there are valid counter arguments (companionship, loyalty, the young woman will eventually accelerate her demands), he does make a good case.
Wonder how many men are considering this strategy as an alternative to today’s dating mores.
So your friend has hired a prostitute – I have no problem with tha assuming she is a adult. I think prostitution should be legal and rgulated as it is in some European countries.
However re ” by avoiding marriage, he avoids the possible horrendous costs of divorce, support payments and property splits”
your friend is obvioulsy not loking for a real relationship