Evening Must-Read: Megan McArdle: You Can’t Have a Conversation About Sexism at Gunpoint

Megan McArdle: You Can’t Have a Conversation About Sexism at Gunpoint: “Last week, I wrote an essay on women on the Internet in which I argued that the real problem is not the sexualized remarks and threats of violence….

No, the real problem, to me, is that women attract an undue amount of nonsexual rage and denigration from people who don’t like the opinions they hold. People are ruder, angrier, more condescending and more dismissive with women who make arguments they don’t like…. This is not just something men do. It is not just something conservatives, or liberals, or nonfeminists do. It is a general rule….

If you’re trying to change people’s behavior, rather than incapacitate them, lighter punishment is often better…. In our society, accusing a specific person of sexism is now a very, very powerful weapon. And there is no such thing as a “conversation” at gunpoint. You can have a conversation or you can have a forced confession. You cannot have both….

I think that we need to have a conversation about subtle structural sexism. But it actually needs to be a conversation, because the best hope of changing behavior is for well-meaning people to do a little gut check before they go on a tear against an opinionated woman. And the only way to do that is to actually convince them that this is real. So really, guys: It’s not you, it’s me. It’s us. It’s everyone. But like Smokey Bear says, only you, and me, and everyone else can prevent flame wars…