"Progressive Neoliberalism" and the Sex Wars

Female Grievance Versus Male Rage

In Unwanted Advances. Laura Kipnis argues that the expanding Federal bureaucracy around Title IX claims has contributed to a climate of “sexual hysteria” in American universities, with a chilling effect on intellectual discourse. She explores a number of cases where the accused were denied any form of due process, while evidence against them was lacking or deeply flawed. It was interesting to read her book as the Supreme Court prepares to overturn ‘Roe versus Wade’.

On one side, we have a shocking roll back of women’s (and human) rights, engineered by well-funded and well-organized Christian reactionaries who have plotted this move for decades. They seek to control women’s bodies and deny them freedom of choice, as part of a regressive, authoritarian social project. They are succeeding despite representing a minority of the population.

On the other side, the liberal / secular establishment supports hyper-vigilance around sexual harassment and misconduct in universities, with a growing federal bureaucracy focused on this. The establishment, Kipnis notes, has rejected the sex-positive feminism prevalent from the 1970s - 90s, returning to an earlier model of female agency that tends to see adult women as, primarily, victims needing to be protected from harm. This trend is one part of a larger social project, an agenda seeking to address claims of historical oppression and inequality based on gender, race, and identity.

When exploring such opposing crosscurrents, my natural tendency is to step back, to look at what is happening through a socio-economic lens. So let’s try that here.