Thoughts on Tim Hunt

Dear Richard Dawkins, I love you, but you’re wrong about Tim Hunt. He’s not the victim of a “feeding frenzy of mob-rule self-righteousness.” He’s a high profile bigot who got exactly what he deserves. Why? Because sexism in science is real, it effects real women, and it’s more important than Tim Hunt’s feelings or reputation. Also, he didn’t actually apologize. An apology includes an admission of wrongdoing and an understanding of the harm caused. Instead, he doubled down on his initial idiocy by complaining that women in the lab can’t handle criticism. I think a lot of female lab technicians would take issue with that casually sexist presumption. But if you really want to know why his comments deserved the so-called “backlash” he received, simply substitute the word “Jew” for the word “girls” and see how it sounds. For some reason, decent people of your generation tend to be sharp as tacks when it comes to calling out racism while taking a decidedly laissez faire attitude toward sexism. But in a civilized society, gender equality must never be considered an optional extra, something to contemplate casually in a jocular manner. Chauvinism is not a quaint foible. It’s a form of bigotry that blights the lives of millions of women—and men, incidentally. Rather than bemoaning the so-called “mob” who had the good sense to prioritize the status of women over the status of a single boorish scientist, you should be joining them.