OTHER THAN PRETTY MUCH EVERYBODY, WHO COULD HAVE FORESEEN THIS DEVELOPMENT? Men now avoid women at work – another sign we’re being punished for #MeToo:

Which makes you wonder why so many men are afraid to interact with women at work?

The answer to that question, perhaps, is that a lot of men aren’t so much afraid of being accused of anything as they are they are angry that #MeToo ever happened. They’re angry that they’ve been made to think about their behavior, made to interrogate power dynamics they always took for granted, and they are punishing women for it by refusing to interact with them.

It’s worth noting, I think, that the Harvard Business Review article previewing the study’s 2019 results is headlined The #MeToo Backlash. You see that phrase a lot and that framing subtly implies that #MeToo went too far, that a backlash is only natural. It’s yet another form of victim-blaming; another way to quietly put women back in their place.

As Glenn has written, “you could write a strong argument for patriarchy using only the things feminists say about the fragility of women.”