
I have just read a public statement by PASMA (Pan-African Student Movement of Azania) at the University of Cape Town (UCT). The statement announces the suspension of one of its Student Representative Council (SRC) caucus members for sexual harassment – the kind of quick action and accountability rarely seen among our politicians of various stripes and something to be lauded, you might say.
It doesn’t end there, however.
The statement is even more extraordinary in that it goes on to reveal the facts of the alleged ‘harassment’ on which both purported victim and alleged perpetrator are agreed, though not on the consequence of those facts.
These are the facts according to PASMA and on which both the alleged victim and perpetrator are agreed:
“The student alleges that they were drinking at one of the popular drinking joints in Rondebosch and they both agreed to go and have consented sex in comrade Masixole’s room in Liesbeek. The story is relayed as follows; at Liesbeek they first had a smoke and it was after the smoking that the student said that they no longer wanted to have sex. It is then alleged that comrade Masixole was unhappy about this decision and did not talk to the student for the rest of the night and turned his back on her while they continued to sleep in the same bed.”
That’s right; sulking at not receiving sex is considered ‘sexual harassment’ now.
Why else would “the comrade” be suspended when both complainant and accused are agreed on the facts? It is perhaps instructive that this event would occur within UCT student politics, given the fallist revolution ripping apart that once mighty bastion of higher education in South Africa. UCT has seemingly chosen accommodation with insanity and, surprise surprise, madness is the result.
There is an intellectual background to all of this, involving cultural Marxism and all the structural nonsense that has so poisoned our discourse.
You see it in assertions by Black First, Land First that blacks can’t be racist, you saw it in the Shelley Garland saga, and you saw it when all men were called “trash” for the actions of a few evil individuals. In short, we have a strand of thought that classifies whole groups in society as victims and individuals in these groups are then given the right not to be intellectually challenged on any of their ideas due to their status as victims. The status and thus the right to go unchallenged changes according to the identities of the parties involved in each particular circumstance.
It is not inconceivable for example, that had Comrade Masixole been interacting with a white woman, he would have been well within his rights to force her to have sex and it wouldn’t be rape. Am I sure about that? No, but when it comes to these people, it’s hard to be sure about anything. They have an unlimited capacity to surprise me, it seems.
White privilege and male privilege are both concepts that denote the relative power between any two individuals and thus the classification of the outcome of their interaction no matter what the facts are. So Comrade Masixole is guilty because his male privilege overpowered what I assume to be a black female student. My white male editor telling me my writing is not good enough would be an example of white privilege and for that reason Martin must publish every piece of nonsense I write, without question (neither of us would stand for that bullshit, I kid!).
We have a situation where our universities, especially UCT, seem to be reinforcing the notion that people shouldn’t be challenged on their ideas because they are somehow babies that didn’t get to grow up when the other children did. No wonder we had the violence of #FeesMustFall – the precious little children needed to express themselves and all of us must understand. What’s that, you say? Critical thinking and being able to consider views that oppose your own? Don’t be silly! That’s the university of yesterday – the institution that entrenched structural oppression – we’re in a brave new world now.
If anyone is interested, the UCT SRC is now calling itself the “Black UCT SRC,” because white privilege and structural stuff.
The politics of victimhood need to stop. Enough is enough.
Rebaone
The “sexual harassment” charge appears irrational, but the article may be leaving out the real ‘rationale’ of the suspension. As a publication of the Rational Standard this article is lacking in rationality. It is rather more opinionated.
While I do not advocate for the victim mentality I don’t think this article is comprehensive enough in deconstructing this mentality. It dwells too much on attacking the ‘victims’!
Let’s just go back to the sexual harassment incident in question. So the man sulks. In the mean time the lady has a thousand questions on what she did wrong by simply saying no. Should she leave? Did she spoil their relationship? Will he victimize her afterwards? Was she leading him on or was it consensual? Why then is changing her mind wrong? So for the rest of the time she is tormented! Now had she consented would he have been more friendly? Perhaps.
Being refused sex is very painful to men. But then on the other hand if he had changed his mind he would not expect her to sulk. He would force her to be ‘friendly’. She in the mean time would still have had another set of thousand questions! Did I upset him? Am I being too ‘bitchy’ and turning him off? Should I keep ‘romancing’ him, maybe he will want me again?
So the power game keeps going! And it favors men! If we recognize this and accept that then the woman was indeed harassed. No should not mean that the other party now sanctions you. Consensual must be all the way. Otherwise we are saying the woman should then ‘appeased’ her friend and just had sex even though she did not want to! Is that not some form of rape then! Why should this gentleman not have reassured his lady friend that he was ok with her decision. Hold her through the night even!
Going back to the bigger picture, power is still in the hands of the ‘white male’. Racism is about power. While blacks can be deragotory or even biased, their ‘racism’ has very little effect. Having said that I do not advocate for hate, violence or discrimination. I believe in reconciliation. But all parties must come to the table.
So our duty, on all sides, is to deconstruct racism. It must be very deliberate. If we shun the physical violence by any party, we must also shun the psychological violence by the counter party. It may not be easy to do but let’s be rational!
Harald Sitta
Come on, get a bbae, flirt with her and relax ….. and if you like to deconstruct and start to deconstruct your best friend!
Anthony Stuurman
Your position is just old fashioned switch and bait. Sulking isnt rape, but note how you ended up calling it almost like rape? You’re playing word associations to distort the meaning of words so that you can fit a square into a round hole.
From what I’ve seen from UCT press, it seems that another SRC member is alleged to have raped the girl, Masixole is just been tarred with the same brush. I dont like his politics, but this looks like a witchhunt.
Harald Sitta
Cabaret or what ? Lefties are just not sexy! They do not know how to treat the babes! What the hell they did smoke ?
Anthony Stuurman
The left always eat themselves in the end. Masixole was crying “White Privilege” only a month or two ago. Now his “Male Privilege” comes and bites him. Its the cures of Intersectional Politics. Todays oppressed is next weeks oppressor.