RE: ASIA ARGENTO, THE ACCUSED, THE ACCUSER AND THE #METOO/ FEMINISM HYPOCRISY! (a short rejoinder)

Asia Argento with her alleged under-aged victim of sexual exploitation

When the accuser becomes the accused, should we sacrifice the new accuser because he is no female, despite his being a "minor" at the time of the incident? Why is the #metoo silent on the most part or spinning the narratives to justify the incident?

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FEMINISM/ #MeToo Dilemma
Not saying, but an unchecked feminism -a situation where a male's wrong is met with heavy criticism, while a different standard is used in judging women who act in the same wrongful manner as the accused male - is patently inadmissible!

 Some will argue that such women should be forgiven because their actions and reactions are a function of more than a decade of societal injustice against women. This is one way to spin the narratives, but if one is looking to make the law gender-neutral, then such narratives should be discountenanced and banished even away from the peripherals of thoughts! Feminism should not be, #metoo movement should not, be about women's right only otherwise feminists will be committing the same crime (wrong will be a better term) they accuse the old "lawmakers" of!

Therefore, just like a female sexual abuse victim should be given the benefit of the doubt and believed, a male victim should be too; more so, when the victim was below the legal age of consenting to the sexual relationship; more so when the accused female stands in the same director-actor relationship as the first culprit of the #metoo movement was to his accusers!

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N/B: I am not holding the brief of any Weinstien (I cannot even stomach what they did: very despicable), but I raise my voice in support of the #metoo movement with just one caveat: that all victims be treated equally and all accused be treated equally too. No hypocrisy!

It is even very despicable and hypocritical as in Re: Asia Argento, that the name of a dead will be employed and the blame and responsibilities sought to be heaped on him because the dead cannot defend themselves!

The Asia Argento Story

Aregnto and Bennett after their time togther (Photo courtesy of TMZ)

In case you are wondering what this outburst is about: it is about the developing story that Asia Argento, an actress, a movie director and one of the first persons to accuse Harvey Weinstein of sexual assault, had a sexual relationship with an actor when the said actor was 17 years (below the legal age to consent to sexual relationship at California where the incident occurred) . Asia Argento was 37 years at the time. The revelation is noted not to have been made by the actor,  Jimmy Bennett, but through an encrypted message sent to New York Times by an undisclosed source when the New York Times was doing a story on Anthony Bourdain after he committed suicide.

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It is alleged that she paid the actor $380,000 hush money when a picture of them surfaced (the picture is now owned by Asia Argento as part of the deal). The actress has, however, released a statement debunking the allegation, claiming instead that the payment was made by her late boyfriend, celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, to protect his interest after her victim made request for money.

An excerpt of the statement released by the actress and directors reads thus:

"I have never had any sexual relationship with Bennett... I was only linked to him during several years by friendship only, which ended when, subsequent to my exposure in the Weinstein case, Bennett - who was then undergoing severe economic problems and who had previously undertaken legal actions against his own family requesting millions in damages - unexpectedly made an exorbitant request of money from me."

Conclusion
 As most media outlets have conspicuously added, the allegation has not yet been proved in court (this addendum is bullshit)! However, one can draw a parallel between the Asia Argento's statement and those of the high profile men who had similarly been accused of sexual misconduct: they smear their victims and work towards reducing their estimations by the public!

In other words, there is no difference between a male predator and a female one; both should be treated with the same public ridicule and disdain.

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