No shame, no silence

On August 1, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the sociologist Michael Kimmel, world-renowned for his academic studies of masculinity and his advocacy on behalf of gender equality, has been accused by a former graduate student of sexual harassment. The details are still emerging — Kimmel responded by denying that he had knowingly engaged in unethical behavior, and he called upon his accuser to come forward with the specifics of her allegations. In turn, Bethany Coston, now a university professor, published an article on the Medium website relating her experiences studying with and working for Kimmel and describing him as sexist, homophobic, transphobic, and far from the forward-thinking feminist he purports to be.

I bring up the Kimmel story not because I care to weigh in on his case but because it so nicely illustrates the tensions and contradictions many of us are striving to reconcile in the #MeToo era.

It’s always disappointing to find out that a person’s private conduct fails to live up to their public persona, particularly if it’s somebody we admire. But if we’ve been following the news of late, then it shouldn’t surprise us. Who can keep count of how many celebrities, politicians, and members of the clergy have been outed as sexual predators in recent years? Today, why should anybody be floored by the news that, say, a “family values” Republican has been spotted hooking up with an intern or that a progressive feminist superstar like Michael Kimmel has been accused of sexual harassment? When it comes to our sexual behavior and our beliefs about gender and sexuality, we Americans have always burdened ourselves with shame, silence, and self-deception. And where there’s shame, silence, and self-deception, there’s bound to be hypocrisy.