Jhessail said:
Careful of persecution as I am, I noticed that it wasn't clear whether this guy had attended her speech (stating that she disliked this kind of behavior) or not. I'm trying to visualize what I would do in the situation, and my conclusion is that I would have to be grossly and visibly drunk for my judgment to be that impaired. I don't blame her for not liking the situation, especially when she'd been experiencing a lot of inappropriate (and worse) attention from guys through her work, and she was cornered in an elevator.
My question is, though, since such was implied in the article: Is it inappropriate to ask in general? I understand that the elevator added a factor of cornering, as well as her already being freaked out by other guys mailing her - but the comment “There is an odd attitude in our culture that it’s acceptable for men to proposition women in curious ways.” He went on to say: “women are lower status persons, and we men, as superior beings, get to ask things of them. Also as liberal, enlightened people, of course, we will graciously accede to their desires, and if they ask us to stop hassling them, we will back off, politely. Isn’t that nice of us?” made me wonder. Ask things of women? That makes it sound like a guy asking if she'd be interested in going to his room means she'll have to sit through a arduous ordeal (and I know it CAN be like that, hardihar har, but generally I wouldn't say sex is a favor women are asked for of me and tiredly grant them, but actually of mutual interest, all other things equal) with no possibility if it being interesting to her. To my mind, the question is brash and quick and untactful, but if asked straight-up with no physical action, and with total respect for the reply, is it still horribly wrong and inappropriate? Disregarding the 'cornered in an elevator' factor here.
My line of thinking is more in line with "fellow female atheist Stef McGraw" when she says “My concern is that she takes issue with a man showing interest in her. What’s wrong with that? How on earth does that justify him as creepy? Are we not sexual beings? Let’s review, it’s not as if he touched her or made an unsolicited sexual comment; he merely asked if she’d like to come back to his room. She easily could have said [and I’m assuming, did say], “No thanks, I’m tired and would like to go to my room to sleep”.”
As for Dawkins' satire, I got his point, but he should have known that it'd piss of more people than it convinced, and that the subjective feelings of a person aren't irrelevant, even if the situation could objectively be a lot worse (a billionaire will still feel terrible grief for losing a child, even if a starving and poor family father has lost seven kids right around the corner, etc.). The article is right in saying "and so a fairly useful debate about feminism, sexism and appropriate sexual boundaries between men and women descended into all out troll warfare and an attendant witch-hunt to persecute sexists in the atheist community.", as well as being right that there's sexists and misogynists everywhere.