# \#MeToo: Preliminary results of a PhD dissertation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 20, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548 "2019-09-20T11:07:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/1 "2019-09-20T11:07:15Z")
Nicole Bedera is a PhD student at UMich, and she recently posted a thread on Twitter which I think is absolutely worth sharing about the “lives ruined” aspect of #MeToo. You can find it [here](https://twitter.com/NBedera/status/1174340842267512833). Some choice quotes: > [@](#): > > In light of Harvey Weinstein’s life being “ruined,” I have more to say on this rhetoric around rape allegations “ruining lives.” And to do that, I want to use the example of one rapist in my research–we’ll call him Justin. > [@](#): > > If anything, Justin (and most perpetrators) got a lot of advantages from the administrators from using the “ruined lives” rhetoric. (I interviewed them, too.) For example, Justin’s bad grades? He got them wiped from his record and his tuition reimbursed. > [@](#): > > If anything, most administrators thought that the system was rigged against perpetrators. (Even though they rarely held any of them accountable.) They openly admitted to giving perpetrators legal advice and actively helping them build their cases. They refused to help victims in the same way, saying it would be inappropriate for a “neutral” party to benefit one side. This often meant that victims filed the wrong type of complaint for the abuse they experienced, making it even easier to dismiss cases. > [@](#): > > As part of my dissertation, I set out to gather evidence of whether or not men accused of rape really had their “lives ruined.” I never found any evidence of a ruined life. But I heard a lot of stories from survivors about overwhelming trauma, including a lot of suicide attempts. Pretty harrowing stuff. The whole thread is a response to Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer claiming that his client’s life has been ruined. I like how [The Hill](https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/461808-harvey-weinsteins-attorney-says-his-whole-life-has-been-ruined) reports it: > [@](#): > > An attorney representing disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein in a sexual assault case set to go to trial next year said in a recent interview that the former producer’s “whole life has been ruined” after more than 70 women in recent years accused him of sexual misconduct, including harassment and rape. > > […] > > “Even if he wins, Gayle,” Rotunno said. “His whole life has been ruined, toppled, damaged. And whether it’s by his own doing or others’, that’s the fact. And the fact is that no matter what we do, and we can walk out of that courtroom with a not guilty and walk him out onto those courtroom steps, and he never gets to be Harvey Weinstein ever again.” Hmm. You mean if you assault or rape double digits worth of women, you may not be invited to be put back into a position of power? We heard the same “woe is me” bullshit spiel back during the Kavanaugh hearings, about how the accusation ruined his life and hurt his family. You will hear this more and more as men become accused of sexual assault. “Woe is me, my life is ruined, how could you do this to me” - ignoring that they chose to assault or rape those women, and ignoring that sexual assault and rape actually do ruin a life - [the victim’s](https://www.ourresilience.org/what-you-need-to-know/effects-of-sexual-violence/). But yeah. Let’s stop accepting “they ruined my life” as an excuse. Especially if the life in question is absolutely not ruined - Weinstein may never get to be the biggest kingmaker in hollywood again, but he’s still filthy fucking rich and will still probably never see the inside of a prison cell. And don’t be afraid to ruin someone’s life over crimes they chose to commit. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/2 "2019-09-20T14:00:34Z")
Thanks for the link. There are several posters on this board who always trot out the “ruins lives” mantra. But have yet to find a single person whose life was ruined because of a false accusation. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/3 "2019-09-20T14:18:20Z")
Very related, listen to the two NYT’s The Daily podcasts about Weinstein (they came out on 9/18 and 9/19). The two shows are focused on former, very famous women’s right advocates who do a 180 and help douche-canoe Weinstein defend himself and his reputation. I’m still going 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/4 "2019-09-20T15:00:30Z")
> [@Slash1972](#): > > Thanks for the link. There are several posters on this board who always trot out the “ruins lives” mantra. But have yet to find a single person whose life was ruined because of a false accusation. I mean… they’re out there. The latest flashpoint for the _lovely_ people over at gamergate (read that “lovely” the way you might read it in the phrase “oh _lovely_, my toilet overflowed and now there’s sewage and shit everywhere”) is someone who killed himself because he was accused of sexual assasult and abuse by multiple women, including Zoe Quinn. No good reason to believe the allegations are false, mind you, but he did kill himself. It’s just… they’re the exception, not the norm. The people who lose their livelihood due to false rape accusations are, much like false rape allegations, a tiny minority and absolutely not the norm. The norm is that even serial rapists get coddled by the system over and over again, and that rich, famous, powerful people can still be elected president of the united states after 22 people accuse him of rape - one of which was a child at the time. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/5 "2019-09-20T15:45:31Z")
This is what jumped out at me in particular (I rearranged the quotes for better juxtaposition, not to misquote the OP): > [@](#): > > They openly admitted to giving perpetrators legal advice and actively helping them build their cases. Justin’s bad grades? He got them wiped from his record and his tuition reimbursed. > [@](#): > > They refused to help victims in the same way, saying it would be inappropriate for a “neutral” party to benefit one side. Cognitive bias anyone? That’s pretty shameful. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/7 "2020-05-13T10:18:54Z")
Reported. (TomSands) ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/8 "2020-05-13T14:33:46Z")
Again, one of the interesting things about zombie threads like these, is reading about former posters who seemed all right, yet somehow got the boot between their posts in the zombie and today. How did BPC get the ax? Just curious; I didn’t remember the thread(s) that caused it. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/9 "2020-05-13T14:46:44Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > Again, one of the interesting things about zombie threads like these, is reading about former posters who seemed all right, yet somehow got the boot between their posts in the zombie and today. > > How did BPC get the ax? Just curious; I didn’t remember the thread(s) that caused it. Here is the ATMB thread… [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=886064&highlight=budget+player+cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=886064&highlight=budget+player+cadet) ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/metoo-preliminary-results-of-a-phd-dissertation/840548/10 "2020-05-13T15:03:25Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Here is the ATMB thread… > > [https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=886064&highlight=budget+player+cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=886064&highlight=budget+player+cadet) Thanks. I keep getting crashes everytime I try to search using their utility.