The Tim Hunt fiasco, in a nutshell:
SJWs: Tim Hunt seriously believes that men and women should work in segregated labs! Burn the witch!
Normal people: He says he was joking and that he's sorry. I mean, it was a really bad joke, obviously, and ill-timed to boot, but it sounds like he doesn't really believe that scientists should work in gender-segregated labs. Many colleagues and former students (men and women alike) have spoken up in his defense, and he seems to have a great track record. He's been publicly shamed already. Shouldn't we let it drop now that he's apologized and said it was a joke?
SJWs: But Deborah Blum says that when she spoke to him after his speech, he said that he was speaking from a place of "honesty." So it wasn't a joke at all, and he meant every word of it literally! He's just lying now to save face!
Normal people: Deborah Blum was actually
pretty vague there. She didn't quote what he said to her; she just put "honesty" in quotation marks without making clear what part of his remarks it applied to ("His speech, he told me, was rooted in 'honesty,' not humor."). Perhaps the "honesty" was that he's had issues in the past with romances between lab partners? Or that chauvinism is still a problem in science? Or something else entirely from his speech (since, you know, Connie St. Louis only reported like 3 sentences of it)? We really can't tell, because Blum doesn't specify. In any case, you've now managed to force Hunt to resign from his post, which seems a bit disproportionate.
SJWs: Oh, so bitchez be lyin? Why are you so eager to defend a sexist old straight white male in STEM? The very fact that in the matter of what he meant you would take his word over that of Connie St. Louis and Deborah Blum reveals something ugly about
you.
Normal people: But look here! Breaking news! Someone who was there has provided a fuller transcription of what he said, and the context shows that it was, in fact, a (very bad) joke. Look how he only uses "girls" during the joke part (while mimicking a chauvinist) and uses "women" before and after. That's a clear change of tone. And how about that "Now seriously"? And his explicit statements of
support for women in science? I'm not defending the joke, but can we chalk it up to low social IQ rather than malice or misogyny? He clearly wasn't
actually making a case for gender-segregated labs during a speech to women in science.
SJWs: Oh, so bitchez be lyin? Why should we take that so-called transcript at face value, when we have contradictory second-hand testimonies that say that there was no "Now seriously"?
Normal people: Well, maybe not everyone heard the "Now seriously." Maybe they didn't notice it while reeling from the joke that they didn't realize was a joke. Or maybe they're just feeling the pressure to double-down to save face now. Regardless, what reason is there to think that this leaked EU transcript is a fake? I'm not saying it's impossible that someone faked it in Hunt's defense, but doesn't a simple misunderstanding seem more likely?
SJWs: But even if it
was a joke, it was a really bad joke, and it changes nothing, because only a misogynist would make it.
Normal people: I agree that it was a really bad joke. I said as much from the beginning, as did Hunt when he apologized. But how can you say it changes nothing? If it had initially been reported
as a joke, he wouldn't have been forced to resign. The story caught traction precisely because it was thought that he was honestly advocating for gender-segregated labs. He wasn't. You and your friends picked up and ran with a story that turned out to be a lie, and you actively participated in a lynch mob that unjustly led to the destruction of his reputation and the loss of his position. Don't you think you owe him an apology?
SJWs: No, shitlord! Shut up and listen to the women: if they say he really meant it, then he really meant it! Or if he didn't really mean it, he's still an evil misogynist who deserved to lose his title anyway. Or something. Also, how dare you use the term "lynch mob"? Connie St. Louis is black, you racist!
:bjarte: