The MeToo movement has been embraced by legions of women as a vital step toward countering widespread sexual abuse and misconduct. This week, more so than at any point in the movement's brief history, there's visceral discussion about its potential for causing harm. The catalyst was the publication by Babe.
The article intimated that Ansari deserved inclusion in the ranks of abusive perpetrators, yet many readers β women and men β concluded the encounter amounted to an all-too-common instance of bad sex during a date gone awry.
Ansari has said he apologized immediately after the woman told him about her discomfort during an encounter he believed to be consensual. A conservative analyst, Carrie Lukas of the Independent Women's Forum, said Ansari "believed that everything that occurred with his accuser was consensual and welcomed. Online and in person, many women are talking about experiences comparable to Grace's account β encounters with men who initially seemed wonderful, but turned pushy, if not criminally abusive, when things became sexual.
We've lived in a misogynistic world with misogynistic sex for so long. We thought this "bad sex" was normal. Until someone spoke up and said, this is NOT normal. This is not OK. Liz Wolfe, managing editor of Young Voices, a D. Men should pursue, women should play hard to get. And from the male perspective, he can't quite figure out what the woman wants.
Wolfe has noticed a generational divide in their reactions. Older women tend to think Grace should have been more vocal and assertive, or simply left Ansari's apartment.
