Sean Penn: The #MeToo movement is a ‘receptacle of the salacious’

Sean Penn at Live Talks LA

Sean Penn has a new Hulu series, did you know that? I didn’t. The series is called The First, and it’s slightly futuristic (set in 2030) and about space, and there’s a female president in America. BUT HER EMAILS! Anyway, to promote the series, Sean Penn and his costar Natascha McElhone sat down with the Today Show to discuss the show, the themes within the show, and… Me Too. Yes, aren’t we lucky? We get to hear a giant ham-face discuss his thoughts on victims coming forward to tell their stories of sexual harassment, abuse, rape and assault. Obviously, Mr. Hamface thinks it’s all a bunch of malarkey.

Penn doesn’t see any part of the show as influenced by #MeToo: “I’d like to think that none of it was influenced by what they call the movement of #MeToo. I think it’s influenced by the things that are developing in terms of the empowerment of women who’ve been acknowledging each other and being acknowledged by men. This is a movement that was largely shouldered by a kind of receptacle of the salacious.”

What he means by “receptacle of the salacious.” “Well, we don’t know what’s a fact in many of the cases. Salacious is as soon as you call something a movement that is really a series of many individual accusers, victims, accusations, some of which are unfounded. The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women.”

Hamface talks to women, okay? “I’m gonna say that women that I talk to, not in front of a camera, that I listen to, of all walks of life, that there’s a common sense that is not represented at all in the discussion when it comes to the media discussion of it, the discussion where if Sean Penn says this, so and so’s going to attack him for saying this, because of that. I don’t want it to be a trend, and I’m very suspicious of a movement that gets glommed on to in great stridency and rage and without nuance. And even when people try to discuss it in a nuanced way, the nuance itself is attacked.”

The lack of gradation is a problem. “I think it’s too black and white. In most things that are very important, it’s really good to just slow down.”

[From Today]

He’s such a garbage human. He’s like the personification of a dumpster fire. “I’m very suspicious of a movement that gets glommed on to in great stridency and rage and without nuance.” He’s literally never sat down and wondered if victims of intimate violence, victims who have seen their careers destroyed because they said “no” to some predator, he’s never wondered if those women (and men) have every right to be full of rage. And much of it is not about nuance, because there is no nuance to “I was raped” or “That man assaulted me.” Besides that, Penn is willfully misrepresenting the whole purpose of Me Too – creating spaces for victims to tell their stories in the public sphere and BE BELIEVED.

Do you want to see a giant ham say these words? Enjoy.

Premiere Of Hulu's "The First"

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.

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102 Responses to “Sean Penn: The #MeToo movement is a ‘receptacle of the salacious’”

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  1. Tootsie McJingle says:

    Why do I care what a dehydrated ham thinks?

  2. Shijel says:

    Mmmmmmmm, I wonder if Charlize has any stories to tell about this leather purse impersonating a human male.

  3. Kay says:

    Jesus Christ. Now that’s an alcoholic if I ever saw one. An drunk, misogynist, dirty wreck.

  4. C says:

    Someone expected anything else from the guy who beat Madonna and put her head inside an oven?

  5. CharliePenn says:

    He just wants to sound smart. He’s dumb as a rock. Not enough nuance to women speaking out about their abuse? How sad for Old Ham Penn. how hard it must be to see women speaking about abuse and have to wring his hands and shake his head and cry “but where is the nuance?! Oh lord in heaven how will I survive without my NUANCE?!”

    He can go to h*ll.

    • AMA1977 says:

      All I can think of when reading his salad of SAT words not used in quite the correct context is the howlingly terrible “prose” he wrote in that terrible, terrible vanity-project “novel” he foisted upon the world earlier this year. I read excerpts on Amazon after the write-up here and I gave myself hiccups from hysterically laughing at the Dehydrated Ham (TM Tootsie McJingles.) He’s an idiot who thinks he is smart. And he’s a violent, misogynistic idiot. With a ridiculous fake tan. So…PRESIDENTIAL!!

  6. Crowhood says:

    Please accept my nuanced go fuck yaself.

  7. Snowslow says:

    What nuance is there to rape?

  8. grabbyhands says:

    Yeah, just what woman needs – commentary from another woman beater.

    Basically every time this asshat opens his mouth on anything, all that comes out is “PAY ATTENTION TO ME!!!”. After that it’s just a bunch of beeps and clicks and the noxious presence stale cigarette smoke, BO and hot air.

  9. mannori says:

    Q- Savannah Gurthrie: have you ever experienced sexual harassment in 30 years of career in showbiz?
    A- Robin Wright: Of course I did! Who hasn’t?!

    Is that nuanced enough for you Hamface? I wonder what he has to say about it or if he looked the other way when his own wife experienced it? He probably blamed her for what she was wearing and did nothing to defend her. He’s coward that way, like when he that Mexican actress used for sex and connections with El Chapo and then proceed to discard her putting her life in real danger just to get his (terribly bad written) interview.
    I think this guy must have a lot of skeletons in his own closet and has spend some hush money over the years and now is scared sh*tless.. Every time a guy trash talks the Metoo I get the feeling he’s putting himself in the shoes of the abuser, not the victim’s.

    When I think about that almost every woman has their own story of sexual harassment in any of its myriad of forms and shades, I also wonder if every man has equally a story of being on the other side of said harassment, to some degree and that’s what scares them now, being called for behaviour that it was so normalized and encouraged and tolerated that they’re shocked to know that is not acceptable, starting from let’s say patting a coworker’s butt
    to even more criminal stuff.

    • Amelie says:

      I watched the multipart documentary Netflix came out with from Kate del Castillo’s perspective. He definitely used her, they don’t overtly say it but they were definitely having some kind of fling and he took advantage of her to get to El Chapo because she tweeted she believed more in El Chapo than the government which is why El Chapo reached out to her in the first place. I do think she was incredibly stupid to think she could go meet El Chapo while he was on the run and there not be repercussions, but Penn basically hung her out to dry.

      • Sigh... says:

        Someone pointed out that his and Madonna’s very public reunion/friendship seemed to be short-lived, dissipating after the signed letter and photo ops w/ her youngest kids were released in an attempt to soften his rawhide personality for human consumption (his movie or book was coming out?), so his using Castillo (and she using him) wouldn’t be surprising.

        Madonna, Wright, Johansson, Theron, Castillo, etc, were “receptacles” of a different kind to him, unfortunate in mistaking his “intensity” for intellect when it’s really plain ol’ idiocy with tinges of talent.

  10. Marty says:

    Sean Penn really is that pseudointellectual who thinks he’s the smartest man in every room, but no, he’s just a dumbass.

    • Mia4s says:

      My eight year old nephew went through a phase where he was constantly trying to sound smart by inserting random words he’d heard on the radio and at museums or whereever. Usually it ended up being gibberish. That’s what I see here. Except when an eight year old does it, it’s adorable. When this trash heap does it, it’s simply pathetic.

      The best revenge on Penn is not to support any of his endeavours…ever. It kills him not to be lauded and respected.

      • Moe says:

        I also hate that tendency for people to go against whatever the current belief is and that is proof that they are somehow smarter or more intellectually in tune than all of us. It’s like saying something contrary makes you automatically a deeper thinker than everyone else. It’s a lazy way of signposting how smart you are. There are certain journalists and celebrities that do this all the time. Makes me yack

      • noway says:

        This is what I thought. It’s word salad with larger words. His clearest idea was about the black and white of metoo, and I somewhat agree. It is far more complicated than it is depicted right now, but what he and a lot of powerful men fail to understand is the movement hasn’t even gotten to the gray areas yet. Too many people have clear cut offenses to share before we get to the nuance.

      • GreenTurtle says:

        Omg, yes! That’s exactly what he does.

  11. jessamine says:

    Ham-face says what.

  12. Flipper says:

    But his ex wife Robin Wright said she was a victim of sexual harassment. He truly is a despicable human being. I wonder if his daughter was the ever a victim, would he feel the same?

  13. runcmc says:

    You guys have covered what he said perfectly but I just wanted to add: his Hulu show is AWFUL. I loooove futuristic six-fi/space dramas … his show is basically a family drama and a vaguely political show that kind of deals with space. It’s not good on any of the levels it tries to be on.

  14. Insomniac says:

    What the hell does that word salad even mean?

    • LT says:

      agreed. It would take too much energy for me to even understand what he said.

    • Mabs A'Mabbin says:

      Exactly. But don’t let him hear you say that as it’ll further cement his supernova-sized ego. He really does sound ignorant af, but you can tell he thinks himself above the human race. Barforama.

    • maggi says:

      I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time trying to make sense of that – is he using $5 words to say #MeToo is somehow a ‘gossip garbagecan’? His butchery of the language fascinates me.

      • still_sarah says:

        His comments about not believing people are garbage too. Yes, some people lie about sexual assault but the same percentage of people lie about having their cars stolen (they really sold them to a chop shop and want to collect the insurance too) and about other crimes (having stuff stolen from their homes when they gave it away or lost it but want to get someone in trouble) but no one like Sean Penn is insisting that people who made theft claims or false insurance claims are “salacious”. He wants so badly to be considered smart but it doesn’t come off well for him.

    • Zwella Ingrid says:

      Thank you. I found it incomprehensible, but thought it might just be me. I grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. Prevailing attitudes were so different then. If you had complained about anything short of rape, you would have been summarily dismissed as a liar, or as some kind of whore for thinking up something as bad as the neighbor boy feeling you up. How dare you accuse him of that, you slut! Girls/Women were never believed back then. Maybe if you had gone to the hospital all ripped up they might have believed a guy assaulted you, but then it would always come back to, what did you do, you nasty girl to entice this boy?

      I’m astounded at the women who still uphold these meat sacks. Especially women my age who should understand the struggle of women to be heard, to be treated fairly, and to not be treated as up for grabs for any male who comes along.

      I support every one of these women who have come forward. I support every woman who has feared for her job, or her reputation. My first experience with this was in 4th or 5th grade, when I was told if I didn’t pull down my pants, everyone in school would be told that I had given up my virginity to the dirt bags. I didn’t, and they did. My reputation suffered from that day forward in my small town back then.

      This may just be me, but I even did it to myself-I guess? I remember later on after becoming sexually active, feeling like -when I was in a situation with a guy, that I had to give sex, like I knew somehow there would be consequences if I didn’t? Does that make sense? Was that my own self-hatred, deep desired to be loved, or a true feeling of helplessness about the power men held over me in the moment? I don’t know.

      I can tell you that I love seeing every one of these dudes who have abused women taken down, and I don’t give a rats a$$ what side of the political spectrum they come from. These dudes like Penn who try to diminish this freeing period of our lives, where we actually have a voice about sexual assault? EFF you to the max Sean Penn. You have no understanding of women whatsoever.

      • Fluffy Princess says:

        *100% This right here!* **fist bump**

      • Stumpycorgi says:

        @Zwella YES! I can totally relate. I wasn’t sure how to put my feelings into words and you hit the nail on the head! I’m so sorry for what you went through. We have all been brainwashed. I’m glad we are waking up now, but I’m full of rage that this nightmare exists in the first place. Hey Sean, I’m a survivor. Please enjoy the nuance among the following terms that I use to describe you: misogynist, rapacious, muttonhead.

  15. Gretchen says:

    I have nothing to say about Penn that hasn’t already been said. He’s trash.

    Only thing I have is that Natascha McElhone is gorgeous, underrated and I would love to see her more. ..Unfortunately I can’t bring myself to watch anything with the Ham face anymore.

  16. Melania says:

    He’s garbage.

  17. lee says:

    ooh, man-baby spouting pseudo-intellectual babble…why don’t you try to actually educate your super smart self for once:

    https://www.vox.com/2018/9/10/17826168/me-too-louis-ck-men-comeback

  18. Lala11_7 says:

    Alls…I have to say about Sean Penn…is what the life has taught me…

    You beat a– in public…

    You beat a– in private…

    I believe he laid hands on Madonna…and others…period. point. blank.

  19. paranormalgirl says:

    God, he’s militantly stupid, isn’t he?

  20. Kitten says:

    Of course he’s “suspicious” of #MeToo. He’s scared of a movement that threatens to put him on blast for his perpetual misogyny. I’m glad you’ve said words to women, Sean, that makes your opinion so much more valid. Ugh. Hate this beef jerky-looking mofo.

    • Tiffany says:

      DING, DING, DING !!!!

      YUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPP !!!!!

    • Tiffany :) says:

      Exactly. He attacks the movement because he’s vulnerable, not because it doesn’t have merit.

      “The spirit of much of what has been the #MeToo movement is to divide men and women.”

      This is such crap and so incredibly ignorant. It’s not about division, it is about accountability. He sounds like a propagandist, trying to divide and conquer.

  21. HK9 says:

    It’s official, he’s a Biffa. (A big red waste bin…google if you’ve never seen them)

  22. Rapunzel says:

    Dear Sean Penn,

    It’s better to be a receptacle of the salacious than a receptacle of sh*t, like you.

  23. Giddy says:

    He thinks that he is an intellectual and THAT WHAT HE SAYS IS IMPORTANT! It’s not, and he’s not. I have some yellow duckie duck tape that I would love to press firmly over his mouth.

  24. Veronica S. says:

    “Receptacle of the salacious.” Listen to this motherf*cker. He’s every faux high-brow classmate I had in my English classes trying to sound more enlightened than he actually is. Those of us with actual educations can tell the difference, loser.

    • Blondems says:

      I love this comment; it’s like the blather of a first year university student – you know the ones who go on and on and on, because their take on everything is ‘just so deep, man.’ Sean Penn is a pseudo-intellectual, ham-faced nincompoop.

  25. Franny says:

    Someone sure is proud that he can use a thesaurus.

  26. Myrtle says:

    Is that new series on HULU or HOW LOW?

  27. Ginger says:

    Oh, thank goodness the asshat who beat up Madonna has weighed in on this. Not sure how we would have coped without his perspective.

  28. dota says:

    The left loved him when he was dining with Chavez.

  29. Tanya says:

    Trash speaks what trash feels.

    What’s worse are the dumps echoing his words.

  30. Sam says:

    Whenever I see or hear from Sean Penn all I can think about is his ridiculous pretentious book that all his celebrity pals pretended to like.

  31. Claire says:

    Didn’t the court document say he didn’t hurt her but most comments are saying he did? Women are going to shoot themselves in the foot over this. I think SP is correct when he says this is really dividing men and women. When it comes to the workforce you will see less women getting positions they are qualified for because men are too afraid to hire them. All the talk about diversity is really bringing out racism as well. Women do need to speak about this but I’m not sure the #metoo movement is the correct platform.

    • Veronica S. says:

      Yes, clearly, silence and conformity has worked very well for women and minorities in America. While I’m holding out out my bowl asking please, sir, may I have some more, the rich and powerful white men of America has never hesitated to give me heaping bowl of social and financial rewards that have carried me all the way to the top for the small price of the occasional microaggression or groping..

    • Tiffany :) says:

      It isn’t about dividing men and women, it is about holding people accountable when they abuse other human beings.

      New flash: Men were “too afraid” to hire women before #metoo as well.

      Your suggestion that women and minorities should get over this “diversity” thing and just go back to the abuse and discrimination is troubling. I hope you reconsider your comments and realize how disappointing they are.

    • Nic919 says:

      Thanks for trying to gaslight everyone but faux concern that women won’t get promoted because of metoo is complete bullshit. If women didn’t stand up for themselves over the years then no rights would have been obtained. No one in the history of any civil rights movement ever made progress by remaining quiet. Ever.

      Sean Penn known abuser is not someone anybody should be listening to. He’s stopped being relevant for years but rides on his white male privilege because he can. He can take his receptacle and fill it with his own verbal excrement.

      • Claire says:

        Why is it that women on this site are unable or unwilling to discuss any difference of opinion without anger? I don’t think the #MeToo movement is a good platform. It’s become something else. I work in a male dominated industry and all of my employees are men. We have had a number of discussions about this very thing. The responses to my comment is an example of why men are feeling they would rather work with another man than a woman. Disrespectful, angry, venting and bitter. Did you even read my comment and absorb what I said?

      • mannori says:

        @Claire “Disrespectful, angry, venting and bitter.” you pretty much described every MALE boss I’ve have for the past 30 years or so. On the other hand, I very much justify rage and anger coming from VICTIMS of sexual abuse. Decades of sexual abuse. You making it about why men wouldn’t hire women NOW because of the metoo is just another example of how the status quo they need to keep the abuse and the disparities going. I’m not even surprised “some” men won’t accept this exceptional moment in history we’re witnessing because is understandable the privileged will fight to keep their privilege it that means keep stepping on the rights of women and minorities. What is sad that many women will side with them just out of fear of “not being hired by men”. Penn, Damon are too afraid of losing that privilege to abuse and diminish women.

      • Claire says:

        mannori, not all men are pigs. There are good men out there. Even white men. Believe me, I’ve worked with some real jerks myself. It’s great women are speaking out and being taken more seriously. I don’t think #MeToo is a good platform. In my opinion its not doing what it should be doing. No one is saying there shouldn’t be anger or outrage when you’ve been treated badly. Its how you address it that becomes the challenge.

      • mannori says:

        I know Claire. I know myself a few “male specimen” worth of trust and capable of love and respect and all the good things. But think about it: almost every woman has a story to tell, which might go from seemingly innocent stuff (seemingly being the key word) to plain and simple criminal stuff. Who was at the other end of the stick? always the creepy criminals? nope, mostly certainly totally normal and so called great guys as well! Im not saying that all men are pigs, I’m saying that many of them have behaved many times in a way that they’re shocked now to find out is not acceptable. That’s why many guys who I thought were great guys are scared and saying that is tough to be a man these days, or that the metoo is too aggressive or that men won’t be allowed to not even look at women anymore… or sh*t like that.
        Civil rights changes are difficult and nobody gets to chose what is the best platform for that change. It’s going to be painful and long and not perfect, but it has to happen. Many will feel threatened and disappointed and will whine and criticise. But it has to happen.

  32. Tracym says:

    It’s so telling that he uses the word “receptical” when describing the me too movement. Because really, isn’t that what women are? Fuck off Sean Penn.

  33. eliseridge says:

    Would he say the same thing about the Civil Rights Movement?

  34. Spicecake38 says:

    My husband and I were listening our usual syndicated radio show in the car this morning,and they played his comments.We both looked at each other and said at the same time WTF did he just say;like,it wasn’t just asinine it was also inaudible.All I can say is duuhhhhh…..okay Sean lecture me some more on how women should react to their situations of sexual assault,abuse,and harassment 😒

  35. Littlefishmom says:

    He’s a receptacle of nobody gaf about you dude.

  36. Fluffy Princess says:

    “I’m very suspicious of a movement that gets glommed on to in great stridency and rage and without nuance. ”

    Jeez, he’s so far up his own ass, it’s a wonder he can see. What part of being attacked by someone lacks nuance–are their subtle ways to force yourself on someone? Maybe tie someone to a chair like Madonna, say? Is that subtle? He literally has no idea what the words mean that are coming out of his mouth. . .

    The other thing I have to say is that he turned Robin Wright into a hard looking woman–still beautiful, but there is a real steely-ness about her that must come from the enormous amount of S*** she dealt with being married to him. Kevin Spacey is notoriously difficult to work with but it was probably a cake walk for her after being married to that hatchet-faced lout.

  37. noway says:

    Everyone has covered his comments pretty well, so can we go to the superficial. Seriously what the hell happened to him looks wise. He looks better in the tv show with makeup and lighting, but at his house he looks really ruff, and not in a good or puppy dog way.

    • mannori says:

      I found it so disrespectful that he made the Today interviewer AND his costar on the show coming to HIS house. He’s promoting a TV show, not doing a personal interview or promoting some personal and individual endeavour. SO there he is, shoeless and rubbing his feet in front of these two women clearly uncomfortable and they’re dressed accordingly to a tv interview while he seems to had just rolled out of bed, in HIS house while making an interview for a tv show. Clearly to establish a sense of superiority that he’s allowed to everything because he’s the “great Sean Penn”. Is like when he started smoking at Colbert. Why nobody has the courage to call this idiot out? He’s irrelevant and well past his time. These little disrespectful passive aggressive behaviours keep giving him the illusion that he’s a “bad boy” and a “rebel” as he desperately wants to hold onto that image of himself.

    • Spargel says:

      IMO he was always an ugly sock, even back in the Ridgemont High days. I remember being a teen when that movie came out and thinking that poor actor was slammed with the hideous-stick right hard.

  38. Medusa says:

    His new show is a real cock tease for a scifi nerd like me. I made it through episode 6 and at the beginning of every episode I thought “Ok, this is the episode where they go to Mars, right?!”. No such luck, just more drama and emotions. I didn’t sign up for that!

    On topic: I get what he is saying. I can see both sides of the argument: on the one hand we owe it to ourselves and the victims to believe them so we can make changes for the better. On the other hand the court of public opinion is very flawed but the actual court system is as well. I don’t think we’ll find an easy and fullproof answer anytime soon but it is important to give people the opportunity to report abuse and to investigate such reports.

  39. maddie says:

    i just got in argument with my friend’s husband the other day. he thinks the me too movement is going too far and that pretty soon men won’t be able to look at women. arguing that if a woman wears a low-cut top (a low cut top down to the navel at work – who does that?), that men should be able to look. and that requiring men to look at women for no longer than 15 seconds is too much. massive eye roll. lost all respect for him. he wouldn’t listen to any reasoning. he said he was worried that his daughter is going to grow up in a world where men couldn’t look at women. sad that my friend married such a misogynist. her father is one too. i really do hope that her daughter doesn’t grow up to marry one.

    oh and of course he’s worried about who her future husband will be, but of course hopes that his son will have fun sowing his oats.

    • Veronica S. says:

      Tell him to die mad about it.

      • maddie says:

        right? just another rich, white man who epitomizes the phrase “when you’re accustomed to privilege, equality feels like oppression.”

      • Nic919 says:

        Hahaha. Oh noes. A man might have to pay consequences for asshole behaviour. Poor baby.

        There is nothing for men to worry about if they treat women with respect. It’s not hard and many men already know how to do it.

  40. maddie says:

    opps…wrong place.

  41. Lilly says:

    Reading this, I immediately thought of people who say: “I have a Black friend… Native friend who says” and it goes onto whatever version of alleged conversion, between great pals doncha know, who support whatever the (invariably) White guy opines. I know I’ve said it before, but if they were a true friend, they’d understand the hurt and oppression that is behind their “agreement” with their opinion. If they really do agree, when there’s such an imbalance of power. Well, hamface (thanks Kaiser) you don’t understand what women experience, you don’t speak for us and as an abuser you should stfu and I abhor that you keep getting hired and have any platform from which to speak.

    p.s. again this goes speaking on mascots Matthew mcconaughey

  42. nikki says:

    He’s telling women what they’ve been told for generations: “calm down, you’re getting too hysterical”. How about no? Hamface has no idea what it’s like to be a woman, and has never experienced sexual harassment on a daily basis as a man. He literally has no idea what he’s talking about, and cannot conceptualize it. He has no place telling women what they should and shouldn’t feel, or how angry they should be.

  43. virginfangirl says:

    I had a 60 yr old try to pull me in for a kiss at work when I was in my early 20’s, only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. I then I realized he had locked both entrances, doors which where NOT normally locked. It scared the hell out of me. He thought we were alone, & I wonder to this day if he planned on raping me. I told my boss, my family, but never reported him to the police. I never even thought of reporting it. But thirty years later, if it happened to me again, I would have the strength to report it, knowing I was supported and believed by many other women and men out there. Men don’t normally fear being overpowered and raped. But they can, if they choose, put themselves in our shoes and try to understand. Sean Penn is an ahole, & I will never see another movie he is involved with, past or present. That being said, I’ve worked with mostly men my whole life, & nearly all have treated me with great respect.

  44. Sean Penn is pretty close to the last person who I want to hear talk about #metoo. The guy is an abuser himself. I remember the story about him tying madonna to a chair and pulling a gun on her, I also remember the part of the story that he assailted her. They broke up, but got back together after that and she refused to cooperate with police so they dropped the case.

    Stfu, ham face, stay mad and scared.

  45. Valerie says:

    Don’t ever let this guy write sample sentences for dictionaries.

  46. livealot says:

    Classic. When the party/gender/race is being called out on their shit the go to reply is “They are trying to divide us”. Same thing I see regarding the BLM movement. Calling out injustice means they’ are trying to divide as opposed to, you know , eradicate the problem! Ugh

  47. Jenna says:

    Women are always the last group to get respect I don’t care what anyone says.Even the most “liberal” person who are quick to defend other groups, seem to lack in support of women and metoo