Economist Bryan Caplan — yes, the “19th century women had more freedom” guy — has a valid point that people often have less sympathy for those unlucky in love than those unlucky at work. People who know that losing your job or getting cancer aren’t because you did something wrong can still default to assumptions that if you just put yourself out there you’ll meet someone; if you’re alone, either you’re not putting yourself out there enough or there’s something wrong with you.
But then he throws in that “When the norm shifts from “Let them down easy” to “Zero tolerance for sexual harassment,” many lonely people choose the safe route of silent sorrow.” This is another old Undead Sexist Cliche, that the real problem with sexual harassment is that it makes it harder for men to get laid. And women are just unreasonable about it: According to Caplan the statement “Anyone who has ever said to someone else, ‘I like you,’ is suddenly being charged with sexual harassment.” contains a grain of truth. No, it doesn’t. If it does, provide examples. People who make these assertions about how wild charges destroy men’s lives never seem to have specific cases.
Then we have Michael Farris, a millionaire conservative Christian who has invested his wealth into promoting homeschooling as an alternative to mainstream schools that he considers anti-Christian. Years of dealing with and blogging about the religious right make me automatically suspicious of guys like this; sure enough, while he’s very big on Parental Rights — the position being used to justify book bans and Don’t Say Gay — he also doesn’t think any parents have the right to support their transgender kids. I have a strange feeling that if someone tried to protect women by keeping Southern Baptists away from them, Farris would have a fit (more on the church’s abuse scandals here).
Then I noticed that Farris is the founder of Patrick Henry College, which claim’s to be “God’s Harvard” rather than, as Fred Clark describes it, “a refuge for people who think Liberty College has gotten too liberal since Jerry Falwell died.” It’s a place conservative Christian homeschoolers can send their kids without having to worry they’ll learn anything contrary to conservative Christianity. Like many colleges there are plenty of sexual assaults — and just like secular schools they cover it up. Unlike most secular colleges but like much of the religious right, misogyny and male supremacy isn’t simply something that happens, it’s part of the school’s beliefs, and Farris’s too.
From the article at that last link: “Last September, the school chose Dr. Stephen Baskerville, a professor of government, to deliver a speech that the entire student body was required to attend. He argued that feminism and liberalism have transformed the government into ‘a matriarchal leviathan.’ The result, he said, according to a copy of the speech, was a society plagued by politically motivated witch hunts against men—while ‘the seductress who lures men into a ‘honeytrap’ ‘ was really to blame. ‘Recreational sex in the evening turns into accusations of ‘rape’ in the morning, even when it was entirely consensual,’ Baskerville explained. ‘This is especially rampant on college campuses.’ (In a statement, PHC said Baskerville’s speech was “an exercise in academic freedom” and not “endorsed by the administration.”)” I totally believe them when they say that — oh, damn, I don’t know how to type in sarcasm font.
So Farris and his school are happy promoting misogynist ideas such as date rape being buyer’s remorse, women deserve to get raped, and that prosecuting rape is an attack on men. As with much of the religious right, Farris’s treatment of women makes his faith a poisonous tree that will bear no good fruit.
For more on misogyny, Undead Sexist Cliches is available as a Amazon paperback, an ebook and from several other retailers. Cover by Kemp Ward, all rights remain with current holders.
