The Sunday Mail - 01.09.2019

37

How #MeToo turned men

and women into enemies

­Professor­ Tim­ Hunt­ were­ des­

troyed­after­one­lame­joke,­at ­a­con­

ference­in ­South­Korea,­about­men­

and­ women­ falling­ in ­ love­ in ­ the­

lab.­What­was­the­virtue­of ­making­

relations­ between­ the­ sexes­ so­

fraught?­ Why,­ when­ women­ had­

broken­through­more­glass­ceilings­

than­ at ­ any­ other­ time,­ did­ talk­ of­

‘the­patriarchy’­seep­out­of ­feminist­

fringes­and­into­popular­culture?­

In ­ a­ similar­ fashion,­ the­ civil­

rights­movement­in ­America,­which­

started­to ­right­the­most­appalling­

of ­all­historic­wrongs,­looked­like­it­

was­ moving­ towards­ some­ hoped­

for­resolution.­Again,­near­the­point­

of ­victory­everything­soured.

Just­ as ­ things­ appeared­ better­

than­ ever­ before,­ the­ rhetoric­

started­suggesting­things­had­never­

been­worse.

The­most­recent­tripwire­addition,­

and­most­toxic­of ­all­of ­them,­is ­the­

trans­issue.­It ­ affects­the­fewest­

number­ of ­ people,­ but­ is ­ never­

theless­fought­over­with­an­almost­

unequalled­ ferocity­ and­ rage.­

Women­who­have­got­on­the­wrong­

side­of ­the­issue,­including­notable­

feminists­ like­ Julie­ Bindel­ and­

Suzanne­Moore,­have­been­hounded­

by­people­who­used­to ­be­men.­

Meanwhile,­ mothers­ and­ fathers­

who­voice­concerns­that­ten­years­

ago­ would­ have­ been­ considered­

common­sense­have­their­fitness­to­

be­parents­questioned.­People­who­

will­ not­ concede­ that­ men­ can­ be­

women­(and­vice­versa)­can­amaz­

ingly­ now­ expect­ a­ knock­ on­ the­

door­from­police.­

Last­ September,­ a­ billboard­ that­

comprised­the­dictionary­definition­

‘woman:­noun,­adult­human­female’­

was­taken­down­after­someone­com­

plained­it ­was­a­‘symbol­that­makes­

transgender­people­feel­unsafe’.

Everyone­ knows­ what­ they­ will­

be­called­if ­their­foot­nicks­against­

society’s­ new­ tripwires.­ Bigot,­

homophobe,­ sexist,­ misogynist,­

racist­and­transphobe­are­for­start­

ers. ­ To­ avoid­ these­ accusations,­

citizens­ must­ prove­ their­ commit­

ment ­to ­fashionable­causes.­

How­ might­somebody­ demon­

strate­virtue­in ­this­new­world?­By­

being­‘anti­racist’,­clearly.­By­being­

an­‘ally’­to ­LGBT­people,­obviously.­

By­stressing­how­ardent­your­desire­

is ­to ­bring­down­the­patriarchy.

And­this­creates­a­situation­where­

public­avowals­of ­loyalty­to ­the­sys­

tem­must­be­ made­regardless­ of­

whether­it’s­needed.­It’s­an ­extension­

of ­a­problem­in ­liberalism­identified­

by­the­late­political­philosopher­Ken­

neth ­Minogue­as ­‘St­George­in ­retire­

ment’­syndrome.­After­slaying­the­

dragon,­ the­ warrior­ finds­ himself­

stalking­ the­ land­ looking­ for­ more­

glorious­ fights.­ Eventually,­ after­

­tiring­himself­out­in ­pursuit­of ­ever­

smaller­dragons,­he ­may­eventually­

be­found­swinging­his­sword­at ­thin­

air,­imagining­dragons.

Today­our­public­life­is ­dense­with­

people­ desperate­ to ­ slay­ imagined­

dragons.­ On­ all­ the­ big­ issues,­ an­

increasing­ number­ of ­ people,­ with­

the­law­on­their­side,­now­pretend­

that­all ­questions­have­been­resolved,­

all­answers­agreed­upon­–­and­that­

no ­good­person­can­have­any­doubts.­

The­case­is ­very­much­otherwise.

Each­ of ­ these­ issues­ is ­ infinitely­

more­ complex­and­ unstable­than­

our­ societies­ admit.­ Yet­ while­ the­

endless­contradictions,­fabrications­

and­fantasies­within­each­are­visi­

ble, ­identifying­them­is ­not­just ­dis­

couraged­but­policed.

A

nd­so ­we­are­asked­to­

agree­ to ­ things­ which­

we­cannot­believe,­and­

told­ not­ to ­ object­ to­

things­ to ­ which­ most­

people­object,­such­as­

giving­ children­ drugs­

to ­stop­them­going­through­puberty­

or ­ allowing­ men­ who­ self­identify­

as ­female­to ­use­female­toilets.­The­

pain­ that­ comes­ from­ being­

expected­to ­remain­silent­on­impor­

tant ­matters­and­perform­impossi­

ble­leaps­on­others­is ­tremendous,­

not­least­because­the­problems­are­

so ­evident.

As­ anyone­ who­has­lived­ under­

totalitarianism­ can­ attest,­ there­ is­

something­demeaning­and­eventu­

ally ­ soul­destroying­ about­ being­

expected­ to ­go­ along­ with­ claims­

you­do­not­believe­to ­be­true.­

If ­ the­ belief­ is ­ that­ all­ people­

should­be­regarded­as ­having­equal­

value­ and­ be­ accorded­ equal­ dig­

nity,­then­that­may­be­all­well­and­

good.­But­if ­you’re­asked­to ­believe­

there­ are­ no­ differences­ between­

men­ and­ women,­ racism­ and­ anti­

racism,­homosexuality­and­hetero­

sexuality,­ then­ this­ will­ drive­ you­­

to­ distraction.­ That­ distraction­ is­

something­ we’re­ in ­ the­ middle­ of­

and­something­we­must­try­to ­find­

our­ way­ out­ from.­ If ­ we­ fail,­ the­

direction­of ­travel­is ­clear.­

We­face­not­just­a­future­of ­ever­

greater­ atomisation,­ rage­ and­ vio­

lence,­ but­ a­ future­ in ­ which­ the­

possibility­of ­a­backlash­against­all­

rights­ advances­ –­ including­ the­

good­ones­–­grows­more­likely.­

A­ future­ in ­ which­ racism­ is ­ res­

ponded­to ­with­racism,­denigration­

based­ on­ gender­ is ­ responded­ to­

with­ denigration­ based­ on­ gender.­

At­some­stage­of ­humiliation­there­

is ­ simply­ no­ reason­ for­ majority­

groups­ not­ to ­ retaliate­ with­ the­

exact­ same­ weapons­ that­ have­

worked­so ­well­on­themselves.

lThe Madness Of Crowds, by

Douglas Murray, is published

by Bloomsbury Continuum

on September 17, priced £20.

How tHe world

lost its mArbles

in next week’s

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TMOS_Masthead_NoSunday_NoLines

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BRINGING DOWN THE

PATRIARCHY: A protester on a

women’s rights march in London

earlier this year, and an Oxford

statue of Cecil Rhodes that

students wanted to scrap

REX