Whether it was in the car on a long road trip or sitting around a firepit with friends, most of us have engaged in a game of, “What would you rather?” Lately, one of the more interesting questions to pose to men is this: Would you rather be falsely accused of murder, or sexual assault?
Prior to the confirmation process of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the answer for most men would likely be sexual assault. But in the post-Kavanaugh, politically-correct world, things have changed. According to new polling commissioned for The Independent Women’s Voice, 40 percent of men say they’d prefer to be falsely accused of murder.
Scary—but hardly surprising.
Out of 1,000 likely 2018 voters who were asked by McLaughlin & Associates whether they would rather be accused of murder or sexual assault, 40 percent said they’d “prefer” to be accused of murder. An additional 38 percent said they didn’t know, leaving a meager 22 percent who’d rather be accused of sexual assault.
It’s hardly a question that murder is a worse crime than sexual assault, despite them both being abhorrent. So why are so many men saying they’d rather be accused of murder?
Perhaps it’s because the country no longer values the presumption of innocence until proven guilty when it comes to sexual assault. They’ve seen on their TV screens what happens when a man is accused of gang rape without evidence, and is asked to prove his own innocence.
But when it comes to murder, it appears that men are aware they’d still have a chance to defend themselves. Foundational principals of Western civilization still apply.
“Sexual assault needs to be taken seriously, but so do the presumption of innocence until proven guilty and questions of fundamental fairness,” said Heather Higgins, CEO of Independent Women’s Voice. “If we don’t find the right balance, the relations of women and men, both personal and professional, will be seriously impaired.”
The #MeToo movement has gone too far. Even its founder, Tarana Burke acknowledges this.
“We have to shift the narrative that it’s a gender war, that it’s anti-male, that it’s men against women, that it’s only for a certain type of person,” she said in a recent interview with The Cut.
If only others would agree. The #MeToo movement can’t just work for women—it has to work for men, too. Because no game of “what would you rather” should ever end with someone saying “murder.