The Kavanaugh Hearings and the Double Standards in Current Feminism

“The Kavanaugh Hearings and the Double Standards in Current Feminism”

Christine Blasey Ford accused Associate Justice of the Supreme Court nominee (now officially elected) Brett Kavanaugh for a sexual assault he (and his friend) did more than 30 years ago when they were in high school. In the past, I assume, people would easily dismissed such an accusation not because of the existence of a rape culture nor the widespread idea of blaming the victim, but simply because a person is innocent before proven guilty. In addition, an accusation filed more than 30 years since the alleged assault during the most appropriate political moment for the accused should trigger someone’s thoughts about the reason (or in an open way ‘motives’) behind the accusation. “Why now?” and “Why him and not his friend instead?” should be the questions for such an accusation during such a pinnacle moment in a person’s political career. The ‘timing’ is the key to these questions. This, however, does not necessarily mean that the people opposing Christine believe that sexual assault is okay. People who are more sceptical about Christine’s motives in her case, including myself, are also sceptical about the current feminist movement throughout the world, that it is not enough to be equal. What these current feminists advocating, instead of equality, is supremacy. The case is visible in the action of a Russian feminist Anna Dovgalyuk who poured bleach to men who were ‘manspreading’ in public transportation.

(Anna Dovgalyuk pours bleach to men in promoting for feminism and anti toxic masculinity PHOTO TAKEN FROM http://www.theweek.co.uk/96722/video-russian-woman-pours-bleach-spray-on-manspreaders)

Anna’s action, documented in various platforms including articles in Mail Online (UK) “Law student, 20, pours water mixed with BLEACH on to men's groins on the Russian metro to stop them from 'manspreading'” by Sophie Law, in Breitbart “Delingpole: Russian Feminist Pours Bleach on Male Commuters for ‘Manspreading’” by James Delingpole and in The Sun (UK) “A WARNING TO ALL MEN’ Anti ‘manspreading’ campaign on Russian trains sees woman ‘spray BLEACH onto crotches of offenders” by Holly Christodoulou and Will Stewart. This action also created an outrage in YouTube and, as if in favour of the activist, YouTube tried its best to remove contents associated with this case. YouTube’s decision to remove the official video containing a summary of current feminism (supremacy over equality) should remind the society of the existence of double standards. The case of men spreading their legs, I think, as a man, is not men’s way to show their supremacy over women, but a natural way to feel comfortable because of what men biologically have as the reproduction system and to put the legs as close as possible together needs a conscious effort (it is not automatic). In addition, many of Anna’s targets were sitting in a non-crowded situation, meaning that these ‘manspreading’ do not violate other commuters. A lot of people, then, compared the justification of pouring bleach to ‘manspreading’ men’s crotch to women using extra space in public transportation for their bags. All of this shows the existence of double standards, that men are not allowed to be men (toxic masculinity). We should then examine whether or not Kavanaugh’s action was considered ‘normal’ simply because he is a male. However, the current trend of ‘Me Too’ and ‘Political Correctness’ should also be considered to judge the case.

(James Gunn and MARVEL PHOTO TAKEN FROM https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/petition-for-disney-to-rehire-james-gunn-reaches-quarter-of-a-million-signatures-and)

I would like to present the case of James Gunn (documented in various platforms including “JAMES GUNN'S NOW-DELETED TWEETS” in Daily Mail Online, “Writer-director James Gunn fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 over offensive tweets” by Bryan Bishop in The Verge, and “James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”' by Borys Kit and Aaron Couch in The Hollywood Reporter) to point out my point about the existence of double standards. The celebrated director of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was fired by The Walt Disney Company after the disclosure of a series of Gunn’s old tweets which clearly contain offensive and taboo jokes that Gunn tweeted his apology publicly on July 19 2018:

1. Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur, making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo. As I have discussed publicly many times, as I’ve developed as a person, so has my work and my humor.

2. It’s not to say I’m better, but I am very, very different than I was a few years ago; today I try to root my work in love and connection and less in anger. My days saying something just because it’s shocking and trying to get a reaction are over.

3. In the past, I have apologized for humor of mine that hurt people. I truly felt sorry and meant every word of my apologies.

4. For the record, when I made these shocking jokes, I wasn’t living them out. I know this is a weird statement to make, and seems obvious, but, still, here I am, saying it.

5. Anyway, that’s the completely honest truth: I used to make a lot of offensive jokes. I don’t anymore. I don’t blame my past self for this, but I like myself more and feel like a more full human being and creator today. Love you to you all.

(Christine Blasey Ford PHOTO TAKEN FROM http://fortune.com/2018/09/27/brett-kavanaugh-hearing-dr-ford/)

Such an apology for a misconduct that someone did in the past does not accepted by many of today’s society. I am not trying to defend his past actions nor saying that his tweets were okay, but I am trying to point out the vivid presence of double standards in this case. Before we move further to analyse Kavanaugh’s past misconduct psychologically, I would like to present the case of how different side gained different support and/or condemnation. While Gunn’s and Kavanaugh’s misconducts were their actions from the past and Gunn already claimed that he has changed over the years while Christine’s accusation against Kavanaugh has not been fully confirmed by investigators (as of October 2018), the society seems to be way more timid to different disclaimers from different sides. In the 2012 DVD release of Looney Tunes Super Sars: Porky and Friends (Innova Digimedia STLS 3289/BD/SU/PA/06.2019/2014) Warner Brothers discloses their disclaimer for offensive cartoons they made:

(*PHOTO TAKEN BY NABIL BAKRI)

“Some of the cartoons you are about to see are a product of their time. They may depict some of the ethnic and racial prejudices that were commonplace in American society. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. While the following does not represent the Warner Brothers’ view of today’s society, some of these cartoons are being presented as they were originally created, because to do otherwise, would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed.”

Such a disclaimer, however, is far more appropriate than what The Walt Disney Company decided to do, which is detaching itself from a highly racist Academy Award winner film that they produced and released in 1946, Song of The South. In the article “Regarding ‘Song of the South’ – The Film That Disney Doesn’t Want You to See” by Sergio in IndieWire, it is clearly mentioned that the film was considered one of Disney’s best, but after the 1980’s, Disney seemed to be more reluctant to release the official cut on original DVD and Blu-ray. Thus even today, the best source of the movie is the bootleg DVD ripped out from older VHS and a low-resolution version on YouTube. A very popular comment then emerged on YouTube considering Disney’s decision to fire James Gunn for the mistakes he did in the past, that Disney should fire itself for producing Song of the South. Could this mean that the current society is no longer believe that people change through time? Could this mean that the current society legitimatizes the use of today’s perspective to judge the past?

(Disney's Song of the South PICTURE TAKEN FROM http://teatopour.blogspot.com/2018/02/song-of-south.html)

The article “Brett Kavanaugh and the Revealing Logic of ‘Boys Will Be Boys’” unveils the discussion about ‘men do what men do’ perspective as mentioned in the case of Anna Dovgalyuk and men doing ‘manspreading’ as the attribute of being male. Does the election of Brett Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court signifies the fact that the Republicans consider a sexual assault as normal? Was the act that Kavanaugh is currently being accused simply the nature of ‘boys’ thus Republicans use this logic as a self-defence? Sir Francis Galton who is famous for his idea that “Personality is composed of nature and nurture” (Collin et al, 2012: 28) seems to have the key to debunk the idea of ‘boys will be boys’, that ‘boys will be boys depending not only on the nature of boys, but also the nurture of boys’ as Galton vividly argued, “Characteristics cling to families,” (Collin, Catherine. et al. 2012:29). Furthermore, John B. Watson argued that “Anyone, regardless of their nature, can be trained to be anything,” (Collin, Catherine. et al. 2012:66). However, such ideas could only explain the behaviours outside the circumstances involving biological make-up of the two different sexes as the case of ‘manspreading’ since spreading the legs cannot be categorized as ‘wrong’ in male because of their physical shape that make them automatically feel more comfortable sitting with both legs spreading, given the right opportunity (in an empty side of the public transportation instead of the crowded one).

(The Psychology Book PICTURE TAKEN FROM AMAZON)

If the allegation against Kavanaugh is confirmed by the court, it could only means that he did a terrible assault in the past, because even though (naturally) he was a boy, his nature does not determine nor legitimize his actions solely and the logic of ‘boys will be boys’ would not be valid anymore. However, since it was an assault practised decades ago when Kavanaugh was just as teenager, G. Stanley Hall’s idea should be considered to answer the case. Hall, who was the first president of the American Psychological Association, proposed the idea that adolescence is a new birth. In the book The Psychology Book, Collin, et al summarize Hall’s ideas as follows:

“During this wild, lawless time, teenagers are increasingly sensitive, reckless, self-conscious, and prone to depression--The child then emerged as an adult: a more civilized, “higher-order” being--Adolescence is a new birth.”

(Collin et al, 2012:46)

Hall’s idea that a certain stage in one’s life may change one’s behaviour is reinforced by Fernald and Fernald’s idea that human being is almost always in the process of adjustment (Fernald and Fernald, 1999:434). This means that people’s change through time is possible since personality is somewhat dynamic. I do believe that it is somewhat strange to judge someone for the mistakes he had done more than 30 years ago during his teenage years using today’s perspective to persecute all sexual assaults without a proper consideration of time and basic psychology that people do change. This argument does not justify sexual assaults today or in the past, but questions the use of double standards and media bias to judge an investigation. The ‘Me Too’ movement, the political correctness, the current feminism, or the current demand of ‘representation’ should not change the fact that before the law, someone is innocent unless confirmed otherwise. In addition, people should question the motives behind the allegation made in a specific moment in someone’s political career because otherwise we would never know whether the allegation is made for the purpose of seeking for justice or just a way to take advantage of the ‘Me Too’ movement and/or feminism in order to exercise supremacy over equality. We should always look at the problem from both sides because otherwise, someone could easily report the mistakes we did in the past that we highly regret today.

(Black Widow: People Change THIS PHOTO BELONGS TO MARVEL/DISNEY)

NOTE: Social Science Theory/Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) by Nabil Bakri

SOURCES

(Other than “Brett Kavanaugh and the Revealing Logic of ‘Boys Will Be Boys’”)

BOOK(S)

Collin, Catherine. et al. 2012. The Psychology Book. London: Dorling Kindersley Limited

Fernald L. Dodge and Peter S. Fernald. 1999. Munn’s Introduction to Psychology (Fifth Edition). Delhi: A.I.T.B.S Publishers and Distributions.

ARTICLE(S) (ONLINE)

Bishop, Bryan. 2018. “Writer-director James Gunn fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 over offensive tweets”. Retreived from https://www.theverge.com/2018/7/20/17596452/guardians-of-the-galaxy-marvel-james-gunn-fired-pedophile-tweets-mike-cernovich/ 09/10/2018, 11:05.

Christodoulou, Holly and Will Stewart. 2018. “‘A WARNING TO ALL MEN’ Anti ‘manspreading’ campaign on Russian trains sees woman ‘spray BLEACH onto crotches of offenders’”. Retreived from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7346595/anti-manspreading-campaign-on-russian-trains-sees-female-law-student-spray-bleach-onto-crotches-of-offenders/ 09/10/2018, 11:13.

Delingpole, James. 2018. “Delingpole: Russian Feminist Pours Bleach on Male Commuters for ‘Manspreading’”. Retreived from https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/09/28/bleach-attacks-on-manspreaders-are-what-feminism-looks-like/ 09/10/2018, 11:09.

Kit, Borys and Aaron Couch. 2018. “James Gunn Fired as Director of 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3'”. Retreived from https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/james-gunn-exits-guardians-galaxy-vol-3-1128786/ 09/10/2018, 11:08.

Law, Sophie. 2018. “Law student, 20, pours water mixed with BLEACH on to men's groins on the Russian metro to stop them from 'manspreading'”. Retreived from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6206701/Law-student-20-pours-water-mixed-BLEACH-mens-groins-Russia-stop-manspreading.html/ 09/10/2018, 11:10.

Sergio. 2014. “Regarding ‘Song of the South’ – The Film That Disney Doesn’t Want You to See”. Retrieved from https://www.indiewire.com/2016/02/regarding-song-of-the-south-the-film-that-disney-doesnt-want-you-to-see-2-156540/ 09/10/2018, 11:01.

“JAMES GUNN'S NOW-DELETED TWEETS”. Retreived from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/fb-5976069/JAMES-GUNNS-DELETED-TWEETS.html/ 09/10/2018, 11:03.

FILM

Looney Tunes Super Stars: Porky and Friends. Warner Bros. Studios. Warner Home Entertainment, 2012. DVD,

BIBLIOGRAPHY (ONLINE ARTICLES):

Donegan, Moira. 2018. “How #MeToo revealed the central rift within feminism today”. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/news/2018/may/11/how-metoo-revealed-the-central-rift-within-feminism-social-individualist/ 09/10/18, 11:20.

Singer, Matt. 2016. JUST HOW RACIST IS ‘SONG OF THE SOUTH,’ DISNEY’S MOST NOTORIOUS MOVIE?”. Retrieved from http://screencrush.com/song-of-the-south-racism/ 09/10/18, 11:16.