Social Justice Fundamentalism Poisoning The Minds Of The Current College Generation: Creating A Generation Of Victims
This is crazy social justice fundamentalism -- in which your mom giving you a hug without first asking for your consent (like a guy about to penetrate you is supposed to) is a crime against bodily integrity.
It turns normal young women into the equivalent of trauma victims who cannot be touched without feeling violated. Touched in any way.
There must be a consent pact worked out first: "May I touch you on the arm to get your attention in the loud cafeteria?"
If this is not done -- if consent for an arm touch is not asked for and received (ideally, in writing), it's some kind of junior rape.
The quote from the NYT piece by Katherine Rosman:
YELLOW SPRINGS, Ohio -- When Soleil R. Sykes took an internship in Washington during her first year as a student at Antioch College, she experienced a bit of culture shock.She was working at a German think tank and noticed that both in the office and at social events, friends and colleagues were far more casual about touching one another. "At a mixer before a speech, someone would tap you on the shoulder or I would tap someone on the shoulder," said Ms. Sykes, 22, now a fourth-year student majoring in political economy. "At Antioch, people would have asked permission first."
In 1990, Antioch College students pioneered its affirmative sexual consent policy, formulating a document now called the Sexual Offense Prevention Policy. It was mocked by much of the rest of the world. Since then, campuses across the country have caught up. Education about consent is now part of college life.
Now, the current crop of pioneers at Antioch are moving the conversation beyond sex to discussions of consent in platonic touch.
When Alyssa Navarrette, a third-year student who is studying anthropology and art, came home for her first visit after starting college, she was taken by surprise when her mother hugged her.
"If you don't want to be touched and your mom wants to hug you, you should be allowed to say no," Ms. Navarrette said. "It's about having autonomy over your own body."
"It's a framework for how to engage with everyone, on every level," said Angel Nalubega, a 22-year-old fourth-year history major and a dorm resident adviser. "It helps promote respect for all people in the community."
Again, what it seems to help is turning privileged young women, especially, into people who go out into the world feeling like victims about to be violated.
If that sounds a little overblown, here's a quote from the piece:
"...We live in a culture where so many are penetrated physically, emotionally and verbally by anyone at any moment."
We live at a time -- and place, here in America -- in which we ALL are safer and more "privileged" than any other people at any time in history.
Grow the fuck up. A guy at the airport, clearing your tray while you're wearing headphones, who touches your arm is not raping you. He just wants to do his job.
Hmm.. Searching for notable alumni for this college shows plenty of talent for such a small institution.
But, from 1990 and forward, there's just no more people worth noticing from there.
I wonder who sends their kids to that college.
Sixclaws at February 25, 2018 7:14 AM
Sixclaws - my wife was an alumnus and friends with a former administrator. In the late 1990s there was an administrative meltdown. The school closed for three years and reopened in 2011.
Their focus on work placements in other cities and their attractiveness to counter-culture students may have conflicted with sustaining enrollment - or maybe their model was less compelling as a world of options was opening up with the world wide web.
That said, I don't know why they folded in balancing bureaucracy with a counter-culture ethos, where their neighbor Oberlin has had continued success.
Michelle at February 25, 2018 7:59 AM
Grow the fuck up.
Too late. That subculture is already seeping into the larger culture, and eventually it will begin seeping into the laws at various levels.
Eventually it will infiltrate and become the dominate culture, until the next counter-culture comes into being. But that's going to be a nice dark age from when this culture becomes dominate and the next one does.
I R A Darth Aggie at February 25, 2018 8:31 AM
"That subculture is already seeping into the larger culture..."
I see that. We're becoming a nation of pussies.
Amy Alkon at February 25, 2018 10:41 AM
I have a bit of an overclocked nervous system, certain light and sound frequencies, repetitive harmonics - they drive me nuts, I wear low grade ear plugs if I have to be in a room with more than four people and I hate to be touched by other people.
That being said I shake hands, let my relatives hug me, and tamp down the urge to punch strangers who tap me to get my attention because its less of a hassle than having a 45 minute conversation castigating them for failing to understand my issues before I ever explained them - which dont even affect the public so most people dont recognize it or even understand it
Statistical outliers need to grow the fuck up, and everyone needs to recognize the fact that the world doesnt revolve around them
And that that is a good thing
lujlp at February 25, 2018 11:06 AM
There is a potential problem for the self-appointed victims of everything: What if their opposite numbers actually followed the Book?
No guy will ask out a woman for fear of being accused of something awful. That's before he actually taps her on the shoulder or offers to shake hands.
Nobody will try to get your attention when you're about to get run over by the marching band. Too risky.
Nobody will offer a suggestion for fear of using privilege or whatever SJW mantra is on for that day.
A man, driving by himself, will not stop to help a lone woman who's got a flat tire for fear of some accusation of something. Yeah, he changed my tire, but he condescended to me by being able to break the corroded lug nuts loose. And he called me "ma'am" which is prejudging my gender identification. I know who his employer is.
I coached youth soccer thirty years ago. You couldn't get me near that job--presuming the knees were willing--today.
Richard Aubrey at February 25, 2018 12:43 PM
Already happening
http://www.foxnews.com/story/2006/04/04/did-pedophilia-hysteria-cause-child-death.html
lujlp at February 25, 2018 12:49 PM
We live in a culture where people may feel compelled to interact with you at any moment, even if you don't feel like talking.
By the way, if you do find yourself in Yellow Springs, Ohio for some reason, Young's Dairy would be worth your time.
Old RPM Daddy (OldRPMDaddy at GMail dot com) at February 25, 2018 12:52 PM
There is already a system in place for making sure people don't touch when you don't want. It is called nonverbal communication. If someone comes at you for a hug you can draw back or put your hand out to shake hands. You can stiff arm them if they don't take a hint. As to not wanting your mom to hug you or freaking out about a touch on the elbow--this better not become the norm because it is seriously nuts.
cc at February 25, 2018 1:42 PM
We live in a culture where people may feel compelled to interact with you at any moment, even if you don't feel like talking.
You got to learn how to deliver the thousand yard stare. That usually gets the point across.
I R A Darth Aggie at February 25, 2018 4:35 PM
I was flying last week. A woman I did not know had the window seat and I had the aisle seat.
She was asleep when the attendant came down the aisle asking for drink orders. I said, "ma'am". Nothing. So I touched her upper arm. She woke up and thanked me, gave the order.
We had no further interaction.
Still, a certain type of SJW could have objected, or even tried to get me in trouble. I was thinking of that at the time.
No problem this time, but was that the usual thing, or was I lucky?
Do I feel lucky next time?
Richard Aubrey at February 25, 2018 5:18 PM
This reminded me of the meltdown Daryl Metcalfe, an extremely far-right Pennsylvania state legislator, had last year when a colleague tried to get his attention by touching his forearm (http://www.insideedition.com/state-rep-freaks-out-when-touched-fellow-lawmaker-im-heterosexual-38722). Not all of this can be put down to "cultural Marxism" or anything like that; I think a lot of it is just that an occupational hazard of activism is that it attracts people with certain kinds of personality disorders.
Michelle asked why Antioch is struggling while Oberlin is thriving. My guess is that the market for that type of school is so small that it can support only one player.
ebohlman at February 25, 2018 5:41 PM
Michelle asked why Antioch is struggling while Oberlin is thriving. My guess is that the market for that type of school is so small that it can support only one player.
ebohlman at February 25, 2018 5:41 PM
And I suspect that it is the reputation of the Conservatory that is keeping Onerlin in business. If they didnt have that they would rapidly go the way of Antioch.
Isab at February 25, 2018 6:13 PM
Isab - good point. I had forgotten about the Conservatory (and I don't have enough of a music background to appreciate what that could mean to a school).
Michelle at February 25, 2018 9:21 PM
What scares me more is the inevitable cultural rebound: What happens when we've collectively had enough of the lunatic fringe? Crying out together as a voice of reason hasn't deterred the movement.
Perhaps we have become a bunch of "pussies", as Darth Aggie had put it. However, it is that sentiment, carried to the equal and opposite extreme that I'm apprehensive about. Counter movements aren't known for moderation.
Anthony W Funk at February 25, 2018 10:14 PM
"I see that. We're becoming a nation of pussies."
A couple of events have caused people I know to ask about buying guns. Do you have experience shooting something?
(I know Isab has. Thumbs up for Isab.)
Radwaste at February 25, 2018 11:05 PM
Verbally penetrated?
I'm envisioning someone yelling down a woman's vagina. I wonder if he hears echoes.
Patrick at February 26, 2018 3:20 AM
But a guy at the airport searching you before you get on the plane is not and should be verbally castigated and publicly shamed?
Conan the Grammarian at February 26, 2018 5:20 AM
Yes, the latter is also raping the Constitution while fingering your asshole
lujlp at February 26, 2018 6:33 AM
"Verbally penetrated?"
Yep. Pretty soon, speaking to someone (especially a woman) without their prior permission will be considered rape. Hey, speech is violence, right?And I wonder how this portion of that generation is ever going to ride a subway, go to a concert, or board an airplane if they are that squeamish about body contact.
One of the things we're seeing now is that feminism has fell off the end of the left, gone around the back, and re-emerged on the far right.
Cousin Dave at February 26, 2018 6:46 AM
Raping the Constitution?
I'm no fan of the TSA, conceptually or actually, but that's a bit hyperbolic.
I have been searched a few times by the TSA and have never yet encountered a TSA "agent" who was rude or officious. And I've never had my asshole fingered by them.
Conan the Grammarian at February 26, 2018 7:45 AM
Remember that wacky novel by Ayn (rhymes with "mine") Rand about a society where all the 'makers' and 'thought leaders' finally gave up on all the PC bullshit and scampered off to escape the madness?
Peter Thiel leaves Silicon Valley for Los Angeles
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at February 26, 2018 10:37 AM
"I have been searched a few times by the TSA and have never yet encountered a TSA "agent" who was rude or officious. And I've never had my asshole fingered by them."
This is called, "approval". Right?
Don't let anyone lie to you: you were assumed guilty because you wanted to travel on a plane.
Since you got to after being searched, you think that's OK.
Radwaste at February 26, 2018 9:18 PM
No, Raddie, it's not. You blatantly ignored the part where I said, "I'm no fan of the TSA, conceptually or actually...."
The TSA is a stupid idea, always was. It's about government control and the illusion of safety. Give up your freedom and any control over your own life and some government flunky will make sure you're safe.
Only, that government flunky won't do that, because he can't. No one can. Be prepared for fight for your own life if you want to be safe. And, even then, there are no guarantees. You might lose that fight.
Again, no. I was only commenting on the behavior of the person doing the search, not the validity or Constitutionality of the search itself. Learn the difference.
The person doing the search is probably not a petty tyrant, a member of the new Nazi party fanatically exerting control over the lives of people he considers inferior, Communists and Jews. Likely as not, he just needed a job. The person voting to authorize millions of taxpayer dollars spent on searches like that one is the person with whom I have a beef.
Conan the Grammarian at February 28, 2018 1:16 PM
"Likely as not, he just needed a job."
He was just following orders.
Got it.
Radwaste at March 3, 2018 3:55 AM
"Likely as not, he just needed a job."
He was just following orders.
Got it.
Radwaste at March 3, 2018 3:55 AM
By Jove, you're right, his searching passengers at the airport is morally equivalent to putting Jews in the ovens or machine-gunning unarmed prisoners. Let's hang him.
Conan the Grammarian at March 3, 2018 8:13 AM
I get that teaching bodily integrity is important, and kids need to learn to set boundaries.
At the same time a certain amount of touch is part of normal social interaction and I don't think you're doing your kid any favors if you teach them they can say no to shaking hands, or hugs or la bise between people who have a certain level of familiarity.
Yes, you can say no, but there are social consequences. If you don't show affection to your friends and relatives they will feel less affectionate to you. That's just reality.
NicoleK at March 5, 2018 6:35 AM
Late, I know, but...
If a four-year-old won't hug you, chances are that kid doesn't REMEMBER you from last time and is just shy.
If that same kid won't hug you year after year, maybe you just need to quit smoking. Or something like that. (Maybe your kisses are too sloppy.)
lenona at March 7, 2018 10:09 AM
"What happens when we've collectively had enough of the lunatic fringe? ....Counter movements aren't known for moderation."
Exactly. There will be a point when the capable and resilient have had enough. and when that happens, it won't be pretty. Best case scenario is a civil war based on regional distribution patterns
of capable/resilient people versus professional victims.
bw1 at March 7, 2018 6:16 PM
"What happens when we've collectively had enough of the lunatic fringe? ....Counter movements aren't known for moderation."
Exactly. There will be a point when the capable and resilient have had enough. and when that happens, it won't be pretty. Best case scenario is a civil war based on regional distribution patterns
of capable/resilient people versus professional victims.
bw1 at March 7, 2018 6:17 PM
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