Harassment charges: Enough himpathy

Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2018-08-18 22:11

Article here. Excerpt:

'We are well into the #Metoo era, yet journalists and editors are still fixated on the harasser's fall from grace rather than the detrimental effect of sexual harassment on the victims and our society as a whole. The News story “Prominent geneticist out at UC Irvine after harassment finding” (M. Wadman, 29 June, https://scim.ag/AyalaResignation) reinforces a familiar toxic narrative: The accomplishments of the harasser hold more value to science than women's right to a safe workplace. This is now so commonplace that it has been dubbed “himpathy” (1).

In the News story, Wadman tells us all about the “eminent” professor, from his scientific accomplishments to his personal hobbies. He did “pioneering” and “groundbreaking” work, he donated money to the university, and he was president of AAAS (the publisher of Science). However, we do not hear about the pioneering work of the women he harassed at University of California, Irvine (UCI). From a graduate student to a tenured professor to an assistant dean, the News story reduced the women who demanded an end to his misconduct to complainers. We are told that Ayala was just being “European” and his actions were misunderstood; instead, the narrative should focus on the many women and careers that suffered from Ayala's actions. Wadman then chose to end the article by quoting an Ayala supporter who diminished the investigation.'

Also see: How 'himpathy' marginalizes the women of #MeToo

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Female scientists complaining about any sympathy given a male one accused of sexual harassment is predictable. What is not necessarily predictable is the accused's un-personing. On the linked page, click the Figures & Data tab. Look what it says:

"UCI decided to remove Francisco Ayala's name from the science library after he resigned amid sexual harassment allegations."

UCI refers to the Univ'y of California, Irvine. Does this mean people looking for him in that library won't be able to find him? Or maybe some of his works?

After Christianity overtook Europe, huge amounts of scholarly works of all kinds were destroyed because their authors had been pre-Christian (i.e, pagans). Thankfully the Greeks did not go on this tear of burning books and scrolls written by pre-Xian scholars so we have Plato, et al., to learn from still. But who can say how much knowledge was lost due to this book-burning, and how long it took to recover? The Dark Ages, a time of intellectual stagnation, arose in Europe because all manner of inquiry into natural phenomenon was all but prohibited in the name of religious conformity. Thankfully there were a lot of copies of many books available in the Byzantine Empire. European scholars had to go there to do any research that was not novel and of course drew conclusions supporting the Church's positions.

Possibly the West is looking at that kind of thing again? Should a man be accused, tried, and convicted of anything sexual by feminists or the public, does the body of his work get erased from organizational memory? And if so... is that REALLY such a good idea?

Isaac Newton at one point owned part interest in a transportation company in the UK. Its primary job was shipping slaves from Africa to what would later become the US. Should all his works be burned and all he discovered erased because he felt no qualms about investing in a slave-trading company?

If so, get ready to throw modern science almost completely out the window. Because without Newton, we don't have physics. Without physics, no chemistry to speak of. Without these two disciplines, we have nothing left but abstract mathematical science. And I net you can find some key contributors there who are politically incorrect.

Back to stone knives and bear skins.

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Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2018-08-19 22:53

Feminists have been citing the accomplishments of the lesbian philosophy professor to defend her against a complaint of sexual harassment.

But we all know there are different rules for men and women and that the same action is judged differently depending on the sex of the actor.

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Submitted by el cid on Mon, 2018-08-20 12:50