Cathy Young, an American journalist known for her criticism of campus anti-rape activism, delivered a lecture at St. Paul University Sept. 25 called “The Politics of Gender and Victimhood.”
The talk centred around Young’s argument that in cases regarding sexual harassment and domestic violence, male victims do not get the same attention as female victims.
“The damsel in distress is the current feminist paradigm,” Young said. When the genders are reversed, it’s not usually taken seriously, she said.
The talk was put on by the Canadian Association for Equality (CAFE), a men’s rights group.
David Shackleton, president of CAFE’s Ottawa chapter, said the aim of the event was to provide a “more balanced perspective than we usually hear in the media.”
The event was met by a group of about a dozen protesters, who chanted slogans against men’s rights groups and Young. About 50 people attended the talk.
Before the event began, a fire alarm was apparently pulled, forcing the predominantly male audience to evacuate the building. The start of the event was postponed 30 minutes as a result.
Once the protesters were contained outside the auditorium, Young began her lecture by saying she believes statistics about rape at universities are not clear.
“We don’t know what percentage of rape accusations are false,” Young said. “Some of those are ridiculously low, which is the number given by the feminists . . . The men’s rights groups say it’s upwards of 50 per cent.”
Throughout the talk, she used specific cases to argue her point, such as U.S. soccer goalie, Hope Solo, who had attacked her sister. Young said Solo received a softer public reaction compared to when male athletes are charged with domestic violence.
“I’m not calling for equal male victimhood,” Young said. “I think we need to recognize genuine victimhood when it happens, whether it’s male or female.”
“I hate using the word patriarchy,” Young said. She said she believes that while patriarchy exists historically and in other parts of the world, the same does not go for North America.
