When Juliet Turner published a photo of herself to celebrate passing her viva exam, she probably did not anticipate that she would be subjected to a social media firestorm.
Women being insulted online for celebrating their academic accomplishments is nothing new. Sometimes, their critics could at least plausibly maintain that their “accomplishments” were dubious in concrete terms — dissertations on heteronormative discourses in Love Island or whatever. Dr Turner, though, has been conducting what appears to be serious work in biology.
Still, a lot of men online were infuriated. “Just look at the degree on that chick,” sneered Richard Cooper, author of The Unplugged Alpha: The No Bullsh*t Guide To Winning With Women & Life (doubtless a Tolstoyan work of literature), “[Said] no man ever.” I suspect it’s true that a woman’s educational background is not her main asset in attracting men, but surely this is the case for both sexes? Do we look at men with doctorates in biology and say, “Damn, what a chick magnet he must be”? Perhaps both women and men do some things because they are interesting, and good for their careers, and not to be attractive.
“Congratulations Juliet,” said Stefan Molyneux, prolific worrier about women’s reproductive systems, “But I do have mixed feelings”:
If you follow an academic career, you will be unlikely to ever have or raise children – thus billions of years of evolution and suffering ends with you and your thesis …
Why he has “feelings” about the private decisions of a total stranger is beyond me. Indeed, this sort of passive aggressive intrusiveness makes Molyneux sound like a stereotypical bourgeois housewife in a sitcom.
As it happens, data from the US suggests that highly educated women are becoming no less likely than other women to have children. Certainly, it is the case that educating women appears to depress fertility in general. Three responses which present themselves are: (a) accept that, (b) find other ways of boosting fertility, and (c) take inspiration from the Taliban. If (c) sounds reasonable then by all means move to Afghanistan.
As in the case of Ally Louks, it doesn’t seem coincidental that Dr Turner is a good-looking woman. The combination of unattainable beauty and unattainable professional success appears to be to angry men online what a lit match is to a pile of dynamite. It just seems unfair.
Of course, it can be the case that professional success is the product of injustice. There are reasonable grounds on which to critique positive discrimination, in its more and less official forms, for undermining meritocratic standards. In academia, there is a certainly a valid argument that quantity has diminished quality, weakening the link between credentials and intellectual achievements.
Again, though, none of this appears to be applicable to Dr Turner. “PhDs are a social construct,” one pretentious moron lectures her. A Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration is also a social construct but if I had a heart attack I would still want to go to a cardiologist and not a taxi driver. The fellas who have been scoffing about the supposed absurdity of researching ant (as Turner has), meanwhile, are revelling in their own ignorance. As Will Solfiac observes, E.O. Wilson — among the most famous biologists of the 20th century — did his PhD on ants.
As well as being obnoxious in the obvious ways, they are creating more division between the sexes
The men who make it their mission to insult and patronise women like Turner are victims of themselves. Unhappy with their place in the world, they are wallowing in petty resentment — choosing the easy route of passive bitterness rather than the more difficult road of self-improvement.
As well as being obnoxious in the obvious ways, they are creating more division between the sexes. Women being told by aggressively humourless and ignorant scolds that there is a kind of zero-sum relationship between marriage and kids on the one hand, and professional and intellectual attainment on the other, might well become more averse to the former path. If an anonymous weirdo tells you that you’re going to be a lonely cat mum if you don’t give up your personal ambitions, after all, you’re hardly likely to say, “I’m sorry @incelrapist1488! Marry me!”
Helen Andrews’ recent Compact essay about gender and the workplace raised some challenging questions, such as whether a culture of inclusion undermines a culture of ambition. Disagreeable idiots screaming at women for the crime of having achievements represents a better argument against her case than any critical response.
