Latte Leftie champions the #Me Too movement (in the hope of deflecting attention from his own Waterstreetesque past).
Dear LL – Everyone knows women can withdraw consent before or during a sexual encounter but how about retroactively? Let me draw on my experience to illustrate why this is crucial if the patriarchy is to be dismantled. Post-gig, I flirted with the bass player in a local thrash metal band the other night. He offered me a drink. I requested a small-batch bourbon but he brought back a pre-mix Jim Beam and cola can. (This didn’t seem important at the time but is obviously evidence he was a budding predator unconcerned with my wishes). I invited him back to my place. I then made him role-play a scenario where I was an innocent, young political staffer and he was a Papist National Party politician overcome with career-ending lust. Technically, I consented to this encounter. Hell, up until a few months ago I even would have offered it up as an example of an empowered young woman exploring her sexuality. But a few months is an eternity in feminist politics. Now I’ve come to understand I need to destroy this predator’s life. By writing an article for (ahem) a local progressive publication where I go into cringe-inducing detail about his pillow talk (“Are you all about the bass, baby?”) and sexual technique (think thrusting away to the Immigrant Song). But I’m worried that the guy might self-harm (you know what those sensitive, artistic types are like). What to do?
Clementine, Leichhardt
LL replies: You’re going to hear a lot of reactionary guff, some of it from putative feminists, about due process, personal responsibility and the dangers of mob rule. For the sake of your #Me Too cred, ignore those geriatric Debbie Downers. Then make sure this string-strumming sicko is outed in the most humiliating manner imaginable before being committed to a hospital for the criminally insane for the rest of his life.