How Slut Shaming Undermines Liberty. I’ve been keeping tabs on some online criticism from The Skeptical Libertarian and Steve Horwitz that’s in reaction to Julie Borowskie and Tom Woods, of which I stand in the feminist side of this (as some would know, and if you didn’t know now you do). This article touches up on the current posts being thrown around.
Bert, what right does anybody have to a reputation? If you sleep around you sleep around. Be prepared to be called on it. If you don’t but still get called derogatory names, it shouldn’t be too terribly difficult to prove it. And if you do prove it, your accusers are now liars with no friends (despite their apparent “popularity”). Besides, most people who “slut shame” are those who need to point out others’ “deficiencies” to hide their own. And in my expeience most of these are what are known as “compassionate conservatives”. I highly doubt slut shaming is the or even a reason for lack of a female representation in libertarianism.
Oh God, how is this thing being blown up into such a big deal? Essentially every big name libertarian has decided to chime in.
Shaming isn’t illegal, but it’s obviously detrimental to the cause.
Hmmm, I don’t think there is any obviously libertarian position either way. Neither having casual sex, nor denigrating those who do is “aggression”. While there are reasonable feminist moral critiques of female-degrading language, there are also reasonable, traditional-moral critiques of loose sexuality. It is not at all clear to me that either side is obviously right… there are compelling reasons that women (for their own sake) may want to be sexually chaste. Of course, women have never actually been chaste… promiscuity, prostitution, homosexuality and other fringe sexual behaviors have traditionally been relegated to the shadows or the gray market, and so on. The modern world is only a very recent exception and only in very limited geographical areas of the globe.
Clayton -
I actually agree in parts with all of the parties involved.
—I think Borowski is right in that females do tend to place a lot of weight (considerably more than male counterparts) on being socially accepted and they therefore might be more influenced by what is considered “mainstream”. I think this is a legitimate point (evidently more or less backed by scientific evidence), and a perfectly reasonable explanation to the question at hand.
—I think Skwire/Horwitz make a good point about Borowski seeming to lodge much of the same criticism toward females that conservatives hurl at women all the time (i.e. things that have little to nothing to do with libertarian principles). I also don’t really disagree with the overall point that Borowski is ultimately making fun of and denigrating women, and then asking why more of them don’t jump on her ideological bandwagon. Making a video like the one she made, while it doesn’t pretend to be a marketing spot for libertarianism, doesn’t seem to be so much concerned with actually bringing more women into the fold as it does with simply venting the filmmaker’s personal resentment. While there’s nothing ethically wrong with this (i.e. make any video complaining about women all you want, that’s your business), it isn’t exactly a good advertising strategy…and therefore I agree with the notion that at least part of the answer to the question asked in the video, is answered by the video itself.
—I tend to agree with Woods in his assessment of these so-called “thick libertarians”, in that they seem to believe “if you really want to promote liberty you can’t just oppose the state. You have to oppose ‘the patriarchy,’ embrace countercultural values, etc. Then, once libertarianism has been made to seem as freakish and anti-bourgeois as possible, these same people turn around and blame the rest of us for why the idea isn’t more popular.” It’s similar to the kind of thing encapsulated with the term “lifestyle libertarian” I mentioned here, when speaking of Gary Johnson. I think the piece linked there (and the piece linked in the piece linked there), as well as the definition of “left-libertarian” offered here give a pretty good summation:
[1] Judging by Reason Magazine’s “35 Heroes of Freedom,” “cool and cosmopolitan” encompasses William Burroughs, a drug addled, Beat-Generation wife killer, whose “work is mostly gibberish and his literary influence baleful.” … Madonna Reason has exalted for, as they put it, leading “MTV’s glorious parade of freaks, gender-benders, and weirdos who helped broaden the palette of acceptable cultural identities and destroy whatever vestiges of repressive mainstream sensibilities still remained.” That sounds like the unscrambled, strange dialect spoken by a professor of Women’s and Gender Studies. [Or is it “Wimmin’s Studies”?]
Much as the left does, libertarians-lite divine, in the country’s founding documents, all kinds of exhortations to let it all hang out.
[2] Former Reason magazine editor, Nick Gillespie, personifies this anti-social trend. He praises as “Heroes of Freedom” Madonna, Dennis Rodman, Larry Flynt, and William Burroughs alongside such true heroes as Milton Friedman and Barry Goldwater. Gillespie epitomizes this brand of libertarianism by posing as the angry young man hipster too cool for the rest of us poor unimaginative slobs.
—I agree with Goodman on his assessment of slut shaming. Personally I did get the impression that that’s what Borowski was doing. Granted, as Goodman admits, “all she said was that media promotes casual sex and that casual sex is not empowering. It could be argued that Borowski was just making a point that many feminist media critics have also made.” But also as he pointed out, “Borowski made her point in a way that easily could also be seen as denigrating women who choose casual sex and makeup, thus furthering a cultural climate of slut shaming.” And that’s exactly what I got from it. The overall negative tone (literal and otherwise) with which she made that statement relayed quite clearly to me that she has a problem with causual sex (or at least with females having casual sex), and that anyone who does engage in such activity is inferior in some way. And I’m sure that’s at least partially why Catholic Tom Woods felt the need to defend her on this, as I’m sure he shares that sentiment (as, sexual acts of virtually any kind are considered a sin within the Catholic faith.)
Ultimately I don’t think Woods has a problem with slut shaming because he personally believes casual sex is an immoral act and therefore should be shuned…and any indignation or “calling out” of such behavior is at the very least, appropriate. (This is supported by his sarcastic rhetorical: “Doesn’t Julie know that such behavior, far from being a ‘cause for shame,’ is just one of the ‘complex choices that smart, thoughtful women can and do make’?”)
What’s ironic about this aspect is that it actually emphasizes and illustrates the exact preoccupation with social acceptance that Borowski was talking about: In the very video where she was denigrating women for having casual sex (in all likelihood, knowing how powerful and effecting slut shaming can be), she was also calling women out for being so obsessed with socially accepted norms. So in a way, she was exploiting the very shortcoming she was criticizing them for, to drive her own moral viewpoint directly into the emotional psyche of any women hapless enough to be watching.
It’s actually quite diabolical.
Bottom line is,
Borowski’s reasoning is probably at least partially right…there probably are less female libertarians at least to some degree because libertarianism isn’t mainstream and women have a harder time being associated with things that are not completely — or at least largely — socially accepted. However, her examples to support this conjecture (and the way they are presented) sound a lot less like simple support for her claim, and a lot more like personal judgements against women for personal choices that the narrator disagrees with. At the same time, as Woods tangentially implies (but never actually says), there’s certainly nothing wrong or “unlibertarian” about that. Borowski is perfectly within her rights to denigrate whomever she wants, for any reason. But at the same time, one can’t deny that such denigration isn’t going to be found very inviting to would-be libertarian females…the kind Borowski is lamenting the lack of. And finally, one does have to consider just how moral or ethical such denigration is when it pertains to behaviors that do not violate NAP.
While I can understand a religious person’s condemnation of perfectly ethical behavior (by libertarian standards) on moral religious grounds, I don’t quite see how doing so is very beneficial to liberty, or its growth in popularity and acceptance. As Goodman points out, at least in this case, it is quite harmful, not only to the health of the philosophy in society, but to individuals themselves.
John James… it’s Wymen’s Studies.
I think the technical answer would be that none of us have any reason to say how its spelled, because of the tyranny of paternalistic language etc. However I think everyone knows that womens studies, however it is spelt, is a pointless major. This isnt to say its easy. Its actually thick to the point of absurdity. Go read some threads on the ms. Magazine forums if you dont know what I am talking about. But it isnt productive. Which is why they (some libruls) want to raise tuition on hard sciences and not on liberal arts majors, like comparative lit and history.
LOL - Saint Augustine explains that lust even between those who are married is a sin… but it’s only a venial sin and it is pardoned by God on account of the fact of the marriage:
Chapter 16 [XIV.]— A Certain Degree of Intemperance is to Be Tolerated in the Case of Married Persons; The Use of Matrimony for the Mere Pleasure of Lust is Not Without Sin, But Because of the Nuptial Relation the Sin is Venial.
But in the married, as these things are desirable and praiseworthy, so the others are to be tolerated, that no lapse occur into damnable sins; that is, into fornications and adulteries. To escape this evil, even such embraces of husband and wife as have not procreation for their object, but serve an overbearing concupiscence, are permitted, so far as to be within range of forgiveness, though not prescribed by way of commandment: 1 Corinthians 7:6 and the married pair are enjoined not to defraud one the other, lest Satan should tempt them by reason of their incontinence. 1 Corinthians 7:5 For thus says the Scripture: Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife has not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband has not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud not one the other; except it be with consent for a time, that you may have leisure for prayer; and then come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. But I speak this by permission, and not of commandment. 1 Corinthians 7:3-6 Now in a case where permission must be given, it cannot by any means be contended that there is not some amount of sin. Since, however, the cohabitation for the purpose of procreating children, which must be admitted to be the proper end of marriage, is not sinful, what is it which the apostle allows to be permissible, but that married persons, when they have not the gift of continence, may require one from the other the due of the flesh— and that not from a wish for procreation, but for the pleasure of concupiscence? This gratification incurs not the imputation of guilt on account of marriage, but receives permission on account of marriage. This, therefore, must be reckoned among the praises of matrimony; that, on its own account, it makes pardonable that which does not essentially appertain to itself. For the nuptial embrace, which subserves the demands of concupiscence, is so effected as not to impede the child-bearing, which is the end and aim of marriage.
Clayton -
I was going to type out a bunch of stuff, but I see that JJ already filled that spot, but I will post The Skeptical Libertarian’s first line of criticism directed towards Borowski:
I know many female libertarians, and as far as I know, not one of them embraced classical liberalism because they rejected expensive clothes or makeup. I also know many liberal and conservative women, but they disagree with me because they have sincere and genuinely thoughtful differences of opinion on matters of fact and philosophy, not because they are brainwashed social conformists.
I try to do my opponents the courtesy of addressing them as adults and criticizing their points rather than their taste in magazines or their sex life. I would be pretty annoyed if, instead of responding to my actual positions, another person discussed me as though I was an unreconstructed blob of automata whose beliefs were poured in it wholesale by “the media” or “Hollywood” or my parents or “society.” No one will take you seriously until you treat them seriously.
Either you get the meaning of this or you don’t. I think many people are “reactionary” (knee-jerk type of reactionary) to feminist critiques of culture that address slut shaming and rape culture, because said individuals generally accept the status quo of culture as defualt, or “that’s the way it is”, and this is why such things as Slut Walk appear to confront this attitude. That, or maybe said individuals have never been exposed or thought outside of their views to think about it.
One doesn’t have to sleep around to be called a slut, and it’s a double standard because the negative connotation is less applied to men than women. This idea of shaming is different than shaming a criminal or someone who has a vice, because there’s no crime committed, it’s behavior in language that in itself is negative in violent in nature. But slut shaming is not the reason for the lack of female libertarians, but concerns of our female counterparts should be more so taken into consideration, and the cultural oppression of women through language and behavior is one of the main topics to be addressed.
I think why there’s no appeal to libertarianism is the subjectivity of culture and a shift in worldview, because culture in itself can be abstract. As where libertarians can make very structured and convincing arguments in economics and political philosophy (and human nature), they generally seem to be culturally conservative. I always felt that this the defining line of “left” and “right” libertarians.
Also, I’ll add this picture:
I’m really busted up to admit this, but some of “us” are actually rapists.
That meme is idiotic. Just replace “men” with “people” and “rape” with “mugging”. It IS stupid to dress and act certain ways in certain places… I mean, this is just braindead.
Clayton -
I wouldn’t take that quote objectively, but it’s something that I found interesting. I’ve come across many people who agree that “rape culture” does exist, but have a very “that’s just the way it is” mentality, and in turn accept that by default as the status quo, instead of fighting that attitude. If one applied a libertarian attitude to that I don’t think one would be so willing to accept something that can change as simply the way it is, even though it’s heinous.
Thank you.
This feminist movement is like a revolt against crime in general, but narrowed down to crimes specific to women. It’s as though their own preoccupation with their identities has women has let the entire notion of danger or malice fly completely over their heads. Exactly what good does it do to tell rapists, pre-rape, in a mass-media spectacle, that they ought not to rape? It’s all the more bizarre because the moral deterrent here isn’t “Rape is wrong” but “I am a woman.” Braindead is an excellent way to describe it.
Clayton, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Slut Walk, but look up how it started. It’s in reaction to the idea of “if you did not dress that way, then you would not get raped.” (If I remember correctly a cop or judge said this in regards to a rape case in Canada, where it started.) What pictures I’ve seen of Slut Walk are many women (and men) who are dressed in either very scandalous clothing, or normal clothes, holding various signs. The most interesting were people holding signs saying “this is what I was wearing when I was raped/molested” while the person holding the sign was wearing normal clothes. It defeats the notion.
Many people make the argument about how one was dressed in a certain situation, but I have many female friends who were raped/molested and it had nothing to do with how they were dressed or partying. I have friends who were in abusive relationships or simply forced to have sex, they were of good character, and yet degraded. The worst situation I know of is a friend who had a gun put to her head while the person told her that she can either go down on him, or get a bullet through her head (imagine that in the most vulgar statement possible). She ended up going to a mental hospital some time after.
It’s all the more bizarre because the moral deterrent here isn’t “Rape is wrong” but “I am a woman.” Braindead is an excellent way to describe it.
And here is the “reaction” to what people think feminism is, not what it really is. The actual case is rape is wrong, for everyone. This is why a lot of women find libertarianism a bit…unappealing.
@Bert: I never said otherwise. The meme is not claiming that it’s false to assert that all or even most rapes occur because of what you were wearing/etc. It’s claiming that it should not be said that how you dress, act and where you go (thus, who you associate with) affects the likelihood you could be the victim of a crime (rape, in this particular instance) which is just… idiotic. And, what’s worse, it’s not even attempting to present facts or reasons to support the argugment, it’s simply stating this in some kind of bizarre class appeal to males qua males.
Clayton -
I’m picking up a different claim than that, I’m getting that women should not change their actions to prevent rape - on the assumption their actions initiate rape - when it’s completely the will of the rapist to rape.* If a woman is a neutral variable, and a man rapes her, it’s not the woman’s fault she was raped, it was the man’s fault because he raped. It’s generally assumed the woman brings it on her self (as brought up by many judges in many court cases).
*This has to do with a shift in attitude towards rape and behavior. Instead of telling people not to rape, you’re telling potential victims to change their behavior to not get raped, but accepting the status quo of rape culture.
(I’m going to bed, work at 5 am, more in the morning on this.)
People are already told not to rape. It’s called the law. You rape, you go to jail. If a woman is a rape-risk minimizer, then she will not dress as if she were loose or trashy.
In which court cases, in the US, was the legal burden placed on the victim of the rapist?
Tell you what, if what this Julie character said gets you bothered, I don’t want to extend an invitation to you for dialog, let alone continued association. Just piss right the f*** off. Because frankly, I don’t think I could complete a sentence without “offending” you. But what really leaves a handprint on my forehead is how ‘rape’ is brought into every single conversation about anything dealing with gender, even remotely.
“It’s generally assumed the woman brings it on her self (as brought up by many judges in many court cases).”
Check your facts, bro. What happened between 1983 and 1986 that caused men to commit twice as many rapes in 1986 as in 1983?? Maybe this played some role?
“Instead of telling people not to rape, you’re telling potential victims to change their behavior to not get raped, but accepting the status quo of rape culture.”
Do you really think that rape occurs because of what people do or don’t say?? Do you really believe that what people say can influence rape upwards or downwards? If so, what is the causal mechanism?
Advising people to adjust their behavior for their own safety is not “blaming the victim”, it’s just common sense. If you live in a dangerous neighborhood, don’t walk around with a gold watch flashing on your wrist for all to see. It’s just plain dumb.
Clayton -