This isnât new news in that I think Iâd read this about Wieseltier before. But the zeitgeist has changed and itâs well past time. Now if we can only hold the Predator-in-Chief accountableâŚ
Itâs as if someone walked into a dark room, turned on a light and all the cockroaches scurried out. What he did and even what Harvey did to women as disgusting as it is pales in comparison to what a director named James Toback did to women who turned him down. He threatened to kill them, maybe be snatched up by guys in a limo as she walked down a street and never be seen again.
Wieseltierâs writing at the New Republic tended to reek of holier-than-thou, self-righteous sanctimony. Iâm not surprised to learn he was a hypocritical phony as well.
Now, we have to make sure the light stays on. They are like cockroaches though, if you see one you know theyâre others around somewhere. They canât flourish alone.
âFor my offenses against some of my colleagues in the past I offer a shaken apology and ask for their forgiveness,â Wieseltier said in a statement to the Times.
Whatâs a âshaken apology?â
Is that when you dangle someone upside down and shake them, and an apology falls out of their pocket?
âŚpales in comparison to what a director named James Toback did to women who turned him down. He threatened to kill them, maybe be snatched up by guys in a limo as she walked down a street and never be seen again.
Sounds like this Toback guy ought to be in prison. I hope some of these women make criminal complaints, if they havenât already. Sound like heâs been doing this stuff so long that a lot of the incidents may be beyond the statute of limitations, but it also sounds like heâs kept at it up to the present, so presumably some may be prosecutable.
Also, I hope they sue him into penury.
I think we should start reporting on men (like myself) who have never abused/intimidated/harassed women. I apologize on behalf of the scum with whom I share biological gender.
Does he go into a barber shop and say âGive me the founding father.â?
Close.
That is a beginning, which I am glad to see happening more and more, but until society (by which I mean we) begin to more directly and effectively reach, and help those of us who are generating this behavior effect change in ourselves, we are unlikely to see an end to it.
When I began working with victims of domestic violence, and then of sexual assault, one of the first things I came up against was the extent to which I had generated the kind of behavior I was trying to treat.
It was a hard lesson, but one for which I was ultimately thankful, because my new understanding helped me improve and feel more comfortable with my relationships with women. In other words, it had benefits for me as well as for those with whom I interacted.
Unfortunately, when I later began working with perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence, I had to confront my own behavior again, and recognize that again, it had to change. It was not enough to be able to recognize and simply oppose the behavior, I had to understand it and speak to its roots in order to be an effective agent for change for other men.
I enjoyed some success, I believe, before I retired two years ago, but Iâm still struggling to understand and effectively speak out as an agent of change, as this example may testify.
Now THATâS a proper apology!
Itâs a complex, even byzantine subject, menâs treatment of women and often compliance and enabling by women in their abusive treatment. But men do need to take a bigger role in shutting it down by challenging the men they know who are engaged in this behavior. We women have been trying in so many ways for so long and seemingly making slow progress only. If we look outside the US we can see even worse examples of abuse and assault, but we canât turn away from that either. This is a horrifying example of how murderous men are enabled by their countryâs justice system. I was screaming when I read it.
Looks like Leon put the weasel in Wieseltier.
You really donât want to be a crooked DA being held out of a window by an angry Russell Crowe. LA Confidential
I heard an amazing story recently.
A math professor at a major university killed his wife, beating her to death with a hammer (this was probably many years ago).
He got off from murder, because the defense attorney argued that his previous beatings with a hammer showed that he didnât intend to kill her!!
After whatever prison term he served, he returned to his job at the university.
Yikes!
These cultural attitudes go back so far in time, itâs amazing we women have made ANY progress. But it does happen. Learning about the roots of these attitudes is a big step forward, and @david_e_brownâs willingness to look at himself honestly is even bigger.
When I was teaching college-level world history, I developed lectures and parts of lectures on gender systems, trying to get my students to think about all this stuff. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didnât. The kids would start to think I was a (gasp) feminist!
@debg
There was a disgraceful episode here in the SF Bay Area involving a Stanford student assaulting a woman and the judge gave him six months and he served three. Judge will no longer hear criminal cases and athlete is banned from USA Swimming. Thatâs the only justice.
Good. I still think real progress should be measured when the receptionist at the local snowmobile dealer doesnât feel compelled to bend over for the assistant parts manager.
Although I hate the predators I am really REALLY angry at the powers that be that KNEW (ââIt was never an âopen secretâ among me and my then-colleaguesâŚIt was simply out in the open.") and did nothing about it. Why did it take SO MANY women having to complain for something to be done? Why are the WOMEN suspect? If I can raise two sons for 25 years telling them âItâs never OK to touch another person without their permission or to make jokes at their expenseâ why couldnât companies do that?