Isn’t that a telling example. I presume you’re referring to Tim Hunt? I mean, I’m only guessing, because he doesn’t match your description at all.
After all, Hunt has not been overthrown as a cancer researcher; he was retired, and all he lost were some of his honorary positions, which he resigned from ostensibly without it being demanded. After his words were criticized by a number of people, none of whom deserve to be called nobody and including the hosts he insulted. With remarks that were not just a joke but witnesses agreed were sexist insults, that he himself said he meant, and the organization he resigned from found contrary to its aims.
But the story about the lynching of a great and active scientist over his honesty is one that gets advanced anyway, with a great deal of outrage. It’s nice to see that despite quoting their false narrative wholesale, you’re merely annoyed. Still it shows a nice double standard: criticizing sexism earns your contempt, outrage that sexism got called out does not.
This might feel like a lot to extrapolate from that, except it’s been so consistent. You plainly have time and energy to stand up for a lot of things. Some meritorious, like privacy rights; others less so, like the CSA being unfairly criticized or the distant threat of knife control. And of course not just people like Deen or Hunt, but even something like gamergate; it may have been composed of outrage and attacking others, but deserved tolerance and negotiation.
And yet you don’t allow everything that sort of courtesy or attention. Emotion in response to gamergate’s outrage doesn’t need to be tolerated. When we talk about people affected by sexism or racism, well, then we shouldn’t care because compassion fatigue. And of course, that it’s simply too time consuming to bother, and now repeatedly that it’s all just manufactured outrage. You know, not like anything you’d prefer us to worry about; a prominent man quit an unpaid position he messed up!
And, of course, you’ve openly stated you’re resentful that anyone would consider your demographic privileged when you can’t find someone. A problem I’m sure many people could sympathize with, for some on top of the issues you’re shrugging off, except it’s hard when you only wave it around as a reason to ignore them.
At what point should we take these various excuses, all only selectively applied, and consider them exactly that – excuses to interrupt and dismiss concerns about demographics other than your own? In which case you could at least stop pretending you’re fighting a fight for everyone and be honest on what you care about.
