Feminist lies: Crying wolf hurts the cause

[LXAAlum]

Story here, published 5/8/05

FIVE DAYS before the annual "Take Back the Night" march at the University of New Hampshire, 18-year-old freshman Stefani N. Duelfer of Exeter reported to police that a man wearing a T-shirt reading "Chicks dig me" assaulted her in a campus parking lot. A week later she reported that the same man came out of nowhere and assaulted her again. UNH issued an alert for all students to look out for the assailant, whom Duelfer described as a 6-foot-tall white man with broad shoulders. Last week police made an arrest in the case: Duelfer. Police have charged her with making up the whole thing.

It should come as no surprise to learn that Duelfer is a feminist activist. False charges of rape and assault regularly crop up on campuses across the country, often close to events such as Take Back the Night, and always by radical feminists. Exactly a week before Duelfer made her first false charge, Desiree Nall, the president of the Brevard, Fla., chapter of the National Organization for Women, was arrested for making a false rape report during Sexual Assault Awareness Week last fall.

At UNH, Duelfer's accusations were the height of foolishly hyperbolic efforts by campus feminists to bring attention to the real problem of sexual assault. By painting with too broad a brush, however, these activists have drawn scorn and suspicion instead of sympathy.

At the Take Back the Night rally, anti-fraternity rhetoric reportedly culminated in women using baseball bats to whack a piniata marked "frats." Never mind that fraternity members were among those who joined the march, carrying banners and wearing pink ribbons on their wrists.

Earlier this semester the Feminist Action League held a rally in which members wore scissors around their necks, sang about castrating men, and accused all men of being rapists. UNH's most prominent feminist activist, Whitney Williams, has made herself a household name in Durham by repeatedly railing against men and fraternities and positing that there is no such thing as a good man.

The damage these women are doing to their cause is hard to overstate. Sexual assault is a very real problem. By lying about its prevalence, radical feminists create an atmosphere of mistrust, which only makes things harder for real assault victims. Falsely accusing innocent people — whether through a fake assault claim or a blanket statement that all men are rapists — also enflames passions on both sides and creates a hostility that is unnecessary and dangerous.

Men and women are not enemies. The sooner UNH's radical feminists realize this, which the rest of the civilized world already knows, the better they will do at getting their message across.

Feminists annoy me.

[Sister Havana]

Please do not consider these women as typical feminists.

Making up false rape stories is not what I consider a feminist act in any way.

[Jill1228]

What she said! Women like her piss me off! The ones that cry wolf need to be shot, because when G-d forbid, something REALLY happens to a woman, no one will believe them

Originally posted by Sister Havana
Please do not consider these women as typical feminists.

Making up false rape stories is not what I consider a feminist act in any way.

[Munchkin03]

As much as we hate it when non-Greeks try to paint us with one brush, why are some of you doing the same thing to feminists?

I'll take "Hypocritical Acts" for $1,000, Alex.

[sugar and spice]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
As much as we hate it when non-Greeks try to paint us with one brush, why are some of you doing the same thing to feminists?

I'll take "Hypocritical Acts" for $1,000, Alex.

Agreed.

That said, I don't think I would count "making up false rape allegations" as a feminist act . . .

[DeltAlum]

Originally posted by Sister Havana
Please do not consider these women as typical feminists.

Making up false rape stories is not what I consider a feminist act in any way.

Agree.

A "Cry of Wolf" is never a way to make a point.

[AGDee]

Ditto. I consider myself a feminist, because I don't think women are second class citizens and we should have the right to vote, own property, work and attend whichever schools we want, if we're qualified. I would NEVER consider filing a false rape report for any reason.

[33girl]

I think that you should have to appear before the ghosts of Margaret Sanger and Elizabeth Cady Stanton before you are allowed to call yourself a feminist.

The sad thing is that a lot of the women who are loudest about saying "I am part of the feminist cause" are the ones doing crap like this. The end does not justify the means. It's like Naomi Asshat Wolf overstating the number of anorexics and bulimics to prove a point, without thinking about what it will mean in real life. Women who are truly feminists - the ones fighting for equal pay and equal opportunities - are so turned off by the actions of people like this that they're ashamed and embarrassed to even refer to themselves as feminists.

I would hope that the women who make up false reports like this will be shunned and criticized by the feminist movement; unfortunately, some will probably see them as martyrs instead.

[valkyrie]

Originally posted by Munchkin03
As much as we hate it when non-Greeks try to paint us with one brush, why are some of you doing the same thing to feminists?

I'll take "Hypocritical Acts" for $1,000, Alex.

Yes, exactly. What she did has nothing to do with being a feminist and everything to do with being an idiot.

[Lil' Hannah]

Originally posted by ADPiZXalum
Feminists annoy me.

I know, isn't it just horrible being able to choose your path in life?

[Honeykiss1974]

I'd say Uber-feminist annoy me. The kind that like this lady (in the article) or the ones that yell at other women who shave their legs and call them weak-minded and being submissive to men. (True story sadly) Ohhh ok

Regular ones are ok I guess. Shoot, to be honest, I don't even know anyone that identifies herself as one. The big stink now is what political party you are.

[valkyrie]

I'd be really sad if I didn't know any feminists. If you do not consider yourself a feminist, would you like to go back to the days when women were considered property of their husbands and were not allowed to vote?

ETA: here is a great definition of feminism.

[Peaches-n-Cream]

Originally posted by Honeykiss1974
I'd say Uber-feminist annoy me. The kind that like this lady (in the article) or the ones that yell at other women who shave their legs and call them weak-minded and being submissive to men. (True story sadly) Ohhh ok

Regular ones are ok I guess. Shoot, to be honest, I don't even know anyone that identifies herself as one. The big stink now is what political party you are.

Many women are reluctant to identify themselves as feminists because of the negative connotation like you described above.

I think that feminism is about equal opportunities and access to education, jobs, health care, housing, and comparable pay for comparable work; it's not about shaving your legs.

It is also not about lying about rape. Lies just make it more difficult for women who have been violated to be taken seriously.

[Honeykiss1974]

Originally posted by valkyrie
I'd be really sad if I didn't know any feminists. If you do not consider yourself a feminist, would you like to go back to the days when women were considered property of their husbands and were not allowed to vote?

ETA: here is a great definition of feminism.

Well actually, I don't consider myself a feminist because I do not share many of the same beliefs as they do.

But its my choice (which was a key purpose of the movement). For those of you that choose to identify yourself as one - GREAT! That's your choice too.