![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5f8a04fc85f54047186bb970-1.jpg\")
The newest work by artist Luciano Garbati ‘Medusa With The Head of Perseus’, is seen during the public unveil at Collect Pond Park in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., October 13, 2020 \u00a9 REUTERS\/Brendan McDermid<\/p><\/div>\n
RT.com<\/p>\n
In Greek mythology, men used to fear the stony gaze of the snake-haired Gorgon. Today, men once again feel such fear \u2013 but, ironically, no campaign has done more to impair women\u2019s opportunities either.<\/p>\n
A seven-foot statue of Medusa holding a man\u2019s severed head was\u00a0unveiled in New York<\/a>\u00a0this week. For six months, this sculpture, made by the Argentinian-Italian artist Luciano Garbati, will be situated facing the Manhattan Supreme Court, where Harvey Weinstein was prosecuted and\u00a0convicted of sex crimes<\/a>\u00a0against actresses and female film-production staff.<\/p>\n The statue is being used in this position as a symbol of justice enacted against male rapists. However, it more accurately \u2013 and unintentionally \u2013 symbolises the difference between the public triumphalism of the #MeToo movement and its negative repercussions for women in the United States.<\/p>\n The most famous painting of Medusa \u2013 a female character from Greek mythology who had a hair of snakes and could turn men to stone if they met her gaze directly \u2013 was painted by\u00a0Caravaggio<\/a>\u00a0in 1596. He was inspired by Vasari\u2019s account of a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci. It has been a common subject for artists since. Garbati\u2019s statue was made in 2008 and adopted by the #MeToo movement subsequently.<\/p>\n \u00a9 REUTERS\/Brendan McDermid<\/p><\/div>\n The #MeToo movement hit prominence in 2017 and was initially primarily concerned with incidents, and allegations, of sexual abuse in Hollywood. It quickly grew to include cases of sexual impropriety in many fields, mainly in the US. However, as it expanded, it encompassed rape, sexual abuse, inappropriate sexual contact, unwanted advances, and transactional sex.<\/p>\n By refusing to draw distinctions between actual crimes, ethical\/professional infractions, and consensual (but regretted) sex, the movement became diffusely broad. Allegations of sexual abuse led to the accused losing contracts, jobs, and marriages; in some cases, it contributed to suicide. In the ensuing storm of moral panic, actual rape was conflated with Ben Affleck\u2019s groping of an actress\u00a0in a video interview<\/a>, a woman\u00a0complaining about a date<\/a>\u00a0with Aziz Ansari and\u00a0Louis CK exposing himself<\/a>\u00a0to colleagues (with their consent).<\/p>\n By failing to distinguish between levels of seriousness, the movement lost what moral credibility it had and became a means of gaining revenge and exacting extortion. If crimes have been committed, then they should be reported to the police, not aired in a public forum. The accused need anonymity just as the victims do, until justice can be served.<\/p>\n Sexual accusations have long been weaponized in American pop culture. It has already\u00a0been proven<\/a>\u00a0that a whisper network of female comic-book professionals has targeted male colleagues with \u2013 alongside actual crimes \u2013 unfounded accusations, in order to provide more opportunities for female creators. This is not a male\/female problem; using deceit and exaggeration to advance oneself is as old as language itself.<\/p>\n In American television and film production, #MeToo gained control of productions via Time\u2019s Up, enforcing quotas of women and extracting payments. It became a grab to secure lucrative work for women, relying on goodwill from the public and the fear of executives. The Time\u2019s Up movement is co-led by Katie McGrath, who runs production company Bad Robot Productions with her husband J.J. Abrams. Bad Robot has a history of presenting itself as a pro-social-justice company. This summer, at a time when rioters were burning shops and destroying historic monuments, Bad Robot made an\u00a0infamous announcement<\/a>\u00a0that there had been \u201cEnough polite conversation. Enough white comfort.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n By presenting a company as an ethical, socially conscious body, that company is an ideal position to benefit from major firms being pressured into making decisions not based on competence but politics. Individuals and companies have seen how they can manipulate public sympathy about sexual abuse to their own advantage. But firms are now realizing this danger.<\/p>\n No event has done more to impair women\u2019s opportunities in the workplace than the #MeToo\/Time\u2019s Up movement. Production companies \u2013 even those led by women \u2013 now see female colleagues as a source of potential extortion and compensation claims. As a result, they now\u00a0avoid hiring women<\/a>\u00a0in order to avert the possibility of costly legal claims and reputation-impairing social-media campaigns. Following decades-long attempts to persuade male-dominated industries that hiring women brought advantages and an expansion of the talent pool, the moral panic of #MeToo has served only to reveal the disadvantages of employing women.<\/p>\n When male executives see women today, they fear them, just as heroes in Greek mythology feared the gaze of Medusa. Ironically, rather than celebrating female power, Garbati\u2019s statue is instead a fitting symbol of the way a campaign that began well has, once again, made men mistrust women.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5f8a056b2030276eb33d1207.jpg\")
From moral outrage to financial advantage<\/h2>\n
Unintended consequences<\/h2>\n