TALL TALES at Mizzou. Actual Facts Raise Questions About the Title IX Climate
At the close of 2018, a story of “politically correct madness” at the University of Missouri went viral, getting a lot of play. Supposedly, according to a Mizzou official, you could be guilty of sexual misconduct if you asked a shorter person out on a date, because your height puts you in a position of power. Was the story misrepresented? Definitely. Clearly, many critics of Title IX pounced on a story that confirmed their narrative. Myself included. On the other side, attorney Andrew Fleischman, argued that the man (who is suing Mizzou for what he considers excessive punishment) is guilty of egregious harassment and that the school acted appropriately. And in the middle, my Reason colleague Robby Soave argued that while the story was misreported, it’s not quite a nothingburger: university officials did suggest in a deposition both that the man’s height created a power disparity and that students who were unsure whether a request for a date amounted to sexual harassment could clear it in advance with the Title IX office. I agree with Soave, but I think there are other issues here as well.
Was Jeremy Rowles a stalker or merely an annoying suitor? Annalise Breaux said that she did not feel threatened or physically intimidated by Rowles, only “uncomfortable.” She also thought his behavior was not malicious but “bizarre,” stemming from “inability to read social cues.” This points to a fact that doesn’t get enough recognition: a lot of male sexual misconduct comes not from entitled, high-status men oozing “toxic masculinity” but from socially awkward misfits who may well have emotional disabilities.
The university was fully justified in taking action. But one can also argue that the actual punishment was an overreach. As Robby Soave wrote, ‘Based on Rowles’ own characterization of what happened, I do not blame Breaux for seeking help. But when the people with the authority to make life-altering judgments like banning a student from campus don’t have clear and consistent definitions for terms like power imbalance, hostile environment, and stalking, we should be concerned that such decisions are being made fairly. That holds true even if the initial outrage-bait headline was wrong.’
Behind a lot of Title IX are human realities that no ideological narratives can capture. arcdigital.media By Cathy Young
