Trump fuels fears, but stats tell the story in #HimToo debate
WASHINGTON The notion that it is dangerous to be an American man in the #MeToo era took off during the debate over Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
But tossing more fuel to the fire were a sarcastic tirade from President Donald Trump and a painfully awkward tweet from an overanxious mother.
On the day that Judge Kavanaugh was sworn in, Mr Pieter Hanson's mother posted a message under the hashtag #HimToo - that her 32-year-old son was refusing to go on "solo dates due to the current climate of false sexual accusations by radical feminists with an axe to grind".
To emphasise her point, she posted a photo of her son in his white navy uniform.
VIRAL
The post went viral, inspiring hundreds of memes, most at the overwrought concerns of Mrs Hanson.
The young man, now a navy veteran, responded quickly with a new photo of himself, in the same pose as the first one but in T-shirt and jeans, to gently disagree with his mother.
"Sometimes the people we love do things that hurt us without realising it," he tweeted.
"I respect and #BelieveWomen. I never have and never will support #HimToo."
But the US President added fuel to the debate this month, telling reporters: "It is a very scary time for young men in America, where you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of."
Mr Trump is the target of multiple allegations of sexual aggression, which he denies.
Then a few days later, he mercilessly mocked Judge Kavanaugh's alleged victim, Professor Christine Blasey Ford, during a political rally.
The #HimToo hashtag gained steam during the bitter debate between Dr Ford's supporters and those who see Judge Kavanaugh as a poster boy for men falsely accused of sexual misconduct.
"The fact that Trump said this guy (Kavanaugh) has been unfairly accused is increasing men's belief that men are victimised," social psychologist Clara Wilkins at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, told AFP.
Men's fears do have "a rational basis", said lawyer Andrew Miltenberg, who told AFP that he has defended young men from sexual abuse allegations, most in university settings.
"In most cases, women are seeking revenge on ex-boyfriends or men they found have played around too much," he said.
A Justice Department study, however, found that such false accusations are rare - comprising no more than 2 per cent to 10 per cent of all complaints.
One rape victim in 10 is a man, and about 3 per cent of Americans have been sexually attacked, which mean that American men are at around the same risk of being the victim of sexual aggression as of being falsely accused. - AFP
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