Alt right rallies behind U of T prof who refutes his own argument in his opening salvo
When you blow the dog whistles, the dogs will eventually come. Or, so tenured University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson will hopefully learn.

In doing the homework for this piece I scratched my head with around 40 windows open, most of which were articles uncritically framing the issue we’re about to explore as being a fundamental case of freedom of speech vs. censorship, because that’s the debate Dr. Peterson claims he wants to have. In every single one of these articles, a mob of anti “political correctness” commentators floods the article with anything ranging from blatantly incorrect statements as to how free speech works to openly advocating for violence against the protesters criticizing Dr. Peterson. One of the articles even predicted this effect weeks before it would swamp other websites. Al Donato over on the torontist wrote with seeming clairvoyance “Let’s be real. Writing this is a trap. There’s no winning when critiquing U of T professor Dr. Jordan Peterson plays into what he wants: proof that “political correctness” is something insidious and the “skeleton warriors” are out to get him.”

So since Peterson’s many proponents seem to think that any criticism of his argument constitutes a “mischaracterization,” and since we have about 4 week’s worth of evidence that you will swarm any article critical of him, I’ll start by getting one thing out of the way: My comments policy. Specifically:

So what gets you filtered?

Making a point refuted in the post you just opened.
Remember this when you’re throwing a hissyfit in the deplorables trash bin.

September 29 — PZ Myers Notices Jordan Peterson

FTB’s illustrious pseudo-not-really-boss PZ Myers posts about Dr. Peterson during an interview in which he stated he would refuse to respect the use of they and their as a gender neutral, singular pronoun. In the interview in question, Jordan Peterson bursts out of the starting gate with this incredible feat of convincing rhetoric:

Grammar lesson time: Peterson begins that last sentence in his response with “I don’t recognize another person’s right” meaning the subject of his argument is now the right (or not) of a single person to do something. The apostrophe in this instance is possessive, referring to the pronoun that singular person possesses. He then proceeds to use the singular gender neutral pronoun no less than five times, in a rant about how how the gender neutral singular “they” is a construct of a “small coterie of ideologically motivated people.”

You’re going to need some comic relief to get through Jordan’s fractally wrong nonsense so I’ve taken the liberty of locating a .gif to dramatize the start of Peterson’s argument here.

Slick.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed this particular faux pas of grandstanding for logic. Will from SkepChick noted the same thing, although he doesn’t have a plucky penguin to soothe the migraine ensuing.

Peterson has also issued a challenge to the press to “go through [his] videos line by line and find one word I’ve said that was bigoted or hateful,” and so we shall. Line by fucking line, as tedious as this exercise is.

That’s right. I don’t recognize that. I don’t recognize another person’s right to decide what words I’m going to use,
First of all, nobody has any such right in Canada as Peterson claims. When a trans person asks you to use a certain pronoun, it’s a request and not a right. We have a right to issue a request but you have the right to refuse it. Put away the panic button and stop with the hand-wringing.

Sections 318 and 319 of the Canadian Criminal Code are not named by Dr. Peterson but perhaps he should look them up as he is implicitly referring to them. In order for Dr. Peterson’s words to qualify as hate speech in the legal sense, he must either: 1) Advocate for genocide; or 2) Publicly incite hatred. And while it’s debatable, Dr. Peterson, that you aware of your alt-right cyberterrorist fan boys doxxing your critics and issuing a deluge of death threats to them, it is certain you are not advocating for genocide by refusing to respect a student’s pronouns.

But you are, of course, being an asshole. Hey, I hear it’s all the rage these days for tenured men to abuse said tenure to be morally bankrupt assholes.

Dr. Peterson seems to be operating from the assumption that deliberately using the incorrect titles or pronouns to refer to a person would constitute hate speech as per the Criminal Code. Given that the closest he’s getting to a Criminal Code violation is egging on his rabid fanboys, I doubt he would have any criminal penalties for his choice to disrespect the use of they and their at a student’s request.

Just social penalties. You know, the ones associated with being an obstinately ignorant asshole.

Back to Dr. Asshole:

especially when the words they want me to use, first of all, are non-standard elements of the English language
Just a reminder that in the same rant against the use of the singular gender neutral pronoun that Peterson does indeed use the singular gender neutral pronoun. Really, it would help my blood pressure problems immensely to just stop there, since Peterson was kind enough to illustrate for us why he’s wrong. Thanks.

Alas, Dr. Peterson’s cocktail of cluelessness and arrogance throughout this ordeal compels me to action.

So the next point we tackle is whether or not singular they is a “non-standard” element. Given that he used it in a sentence and it is in no way an incorrect sentence, I would consider the question settled.

But, even if we were to accept the premise that singular they is “non-standard,” why the fuck would that even matter? Linguists, especially the ones that write dictionaries, are descriptivist, not prescriptivist. There’s no traction on which to lecture about the way English is ‘supposed’ to be because its only constant is that it changes. Behold, a dictionary that acknowledges the word “genderqueer.”

So Dr. Peterson, is there any reason Merriam-Webster should “not count” towards making a word “standard” or not? Oxford added the word “selfie” to its lexicon–is selfie still non-standard enough by your arbitrary expectations? Are all our borrowed words from other languages English enough for you?

Back to Peterson:

and they are constructs of a small coterie of ideologically motivated people.
I have to ask, Peterson, do you consider linguistic prescriptivism to be an ideology? Because you’re using it to motivate your argument.

This is also one of the dog whistles I’m referring to–the alt-right seems to be under the impression that ideology is only something “leftists” do. “My opponent is ideologically motivated” is a completely meaningless statement, a deepity, and the pool noodle of rhetorical attacks. If both of us weren’t ideologically motivated we wouldn’t be in disagreement!

Pictured: Apathy, obviously.

They might have a point
You don’t say

but I’m not going to say their words for them
As is your choice, but earlier you were asking us to comb through your work line by line. Here you practically admit you have no traction for your position, but you’re going to stomp your foot and pout with your lower-lip just “because”–and you don’t want to be called a bigot for it.

Between September 29 and Now

Jordan Peterson’s protracted doubling down (by now I’m sure it would qualify as “power to 16”) has produced a number of consequences, the first of which is a fury of anti-political correctness conservative writers who want to install their own version of political correctness in which being a dick to trans people is politically correct.

(Content Notice: All of these websites are right-wing crank)

genuinewitty: “The Hypocrisy of the University of Toronto’s Administration (Feat Jordan Peterson)”

Total Conservative: “Psychology professor Jordan Peterson of the University of Toronto has attracted the ire of his fellow staff members by refusing to get on board the Transgender Train.”

spiked-online: “I Won’t Play the PC Game”

The Stream: “Pushing Back Against the PC Madness”

And a petition titled “Support Dr. Peterson against totalitarian political correctness“
Again I have to point out that “political correctness” is another meaningless deepity, because if these reactionaries have their way, it will be politically correct to deny the body of medical evidence to suggest gender identity exists. You really should just be honest in these headlines: “We don’t like being told that we’re assholes for disrespecting trans people.”

Rebel Media picked it up, too, with videos edited to demonize protesters selectively. Its editor, Ezra Levant, is the sort of angel who routinely finds himself in court over libelous, defamatory, and hateful speech (as he is not shy about proposing final solutions). They will not be linked, but if you have the stomach, you can Google them to find their works. They’re the type of Canadians who think the fascistic orange howler monkey is a good candidate for POTUS.

All of it combines to having caught the attention of the alt right. Regardless of the fact that Dr. Peterson has largely been spinning his wheels in place, the typical suspects seem to find him persuasive: 4chan and Reddit. According to Vice’s interview with one of the trans protesters criticizing Dr. Peterson:

Information about some trans students, including their names, locations, and families, has been shared on forums like 4Chan and far-right subreddits, according to Qaiser Ali, who said he was attacked by a protester at a free speech rally last week, where Peterson was invited as a speaker.

“We can’t make that information go away,” they said.

At the rally, Ali said, trans students were “subjected to unending transphobic slurs and hate speech,” and that members of the Black Liberation Collective had to shield trans students from “what had essentially become an angry mob.”
“The ‘free speech’ there was, ‘You should be like Michael Brown! There should be a hundred more Michael Browns!’ I was physically assaulted by a known right-wing radical who attacked me from behind, and another person was choked by him as well,” Ali said.

Ali said the crowd included white supremacists and neo-Nazis. As they were entering a building, a protester charged from behind them and slammed the door onto their body, they said.

“He attacked at least one other person,” Ali alleged.

The Varsity also describes the protest:

Members of the university’s trans and non-binary community blasted white noise through speakers as Peterson and Southern attempted to speak. Peterson eventually proceeded with his remarks without using a microphone. Connor Johnston, a student who was present at the rally, described the scene: “They were blocking out the mics with white noise and like, trying to disrupt the whole thing. Someone tried to pull the cord a few times… They’ve been trying to get people from the other side to just talk, and they were just complaining that, instead of trying to sound out the noise, they should actually just come and give your own opinion.”

Qaiser Ali, one of the organizers of last week’s teach-in and rally who was present, told The Varsity that “the goal with the noise disruption, which is a tactic that has been used before, is not to suppress anyone’s free speech but rather not to take some speech lying down. These people were yelling homophobic slurs, transphobic slurs, referring to us as ‘things’ and ‘its’ — we were hoping to make that a little harder to hear.”

…

There were a number of incidents of assault at the rally. One man, who asked to only be identified as Bryan, told The Varsity, “A guy came up to me and tried to grab my binder, but I wouldn’t let it go, so he pushed me. He then put his hands around my neck until Campus Police came and separated us.”

…

The Black Liberation Collective (BLC) was also present at the event, and engaged in a number of interactions with free speech activists. Before attending the rally, the group held a demonstration at the University of Toronto Students’ Union (UTSU).Roxane, a student who was protesting the rally as an independent dissenter, shared her feelings on the intentions of the rally. “I think [it was about] holding up standards of white supremacy and I think that a lot of arguments were steeped in fear, which was really concerning for me,” she said. “I think that this forum dissolved really quickly into speaking to people’s fear and vulgarities rather than articulating themselves and articulating their arguments.”
Prior to this escalating protest, the trans protesters tried a more collaborative approach with a “teach-in,” but it too was disrupted by Rebel Media’s reporter, Lauren Southern. (emphasis mine)

“In addition to the educational aspect, we want to draw attention to and call out the university for supporting and enabling people who are causing harm to trans people,” said Cassandra Williams, a trans woman and the Vice-President, University Affairs at the University of Toronto Students’ Union.

Williams told The Varsity that she “wants the university to uphold its commitment to ensuring that we have learning environments in the university that are free from discrimination and harassment.”Ali believes that the teach-in was a success and that the goal of spreading trans and non-binary experiences was met. They told The Varsity that they aimed to “create a space for people to be able to air their stories with one another, with cisgendered people, and potentially even with some of our opponents, and in doing so make a personal impression.”

The event was interrupted by Lauren Southern from The Rebel, a right-wing online media outlet. Southern, pretending to be transgender, took to the microphone to defend Peterson and was quickly shut down, having not identified herself as a media correspondent. Her comments were met with chants of “shame” from the crowd. The Varsity reached out to the The Rebel for comment on Southern’s actions and received a satirical response from the media outlet’s founder Ezra Levant.

Southern engaged in multiple acts of deception and acted in bad faith to derail the milder protest, during which Dr. Jordan Peterson (who by now must be on ^64 regarding his doubling down) promptly listened to exactly zero arguments from trans protesters trying to get through his thick skull.

And Southern has the temerity to suggest efforts to limit her publisher’s ethically bankrupt practices are somehow unjustified.

Although journalists take no oaths, there are a few statements that guide us in our practice. We afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted. We minimize harm. We don’t make ourselves the story.

Writing this is giving Rebel Media and its loyal fanbase a chance to see someone lunge for troll bait. Writing this is, unfortunately, making Southern the story, which despite established journalistic principles, is what she wants.

Instead of focusing on Rebel’s reporters and their identities, I’d rather these words serve as a reminder to any media professional who thinks transgender rights are a joke. Journalists, for the love of the oxford comma and all things holy, don’t treat queer and trans communities like viral social experiments.

When journalists traverse the shaky ethical grounds of going undercover, they are at their best when they are revealing wrongdoing. Famously, Nellie Bly went undercover in the 1880s to expose inhumane conditions at a women’s asylum.

Journalists who hide their identities for sleazier reasons erode public trust. There’s Nico Himes, a straight and married Daily Beast reporter who faked being gay to trawl for Olympians on Grindr. Himes’s story had several identifiable features for various athletes from homophobic countries, putting them in danger. And then there’s Margaret Wente, a serial ethics offender. Newfoundlanders who still won’t forgive Wente, in spite of her apology for insensitive coverage, take issue with how she hid her identity from her sources.

The problem society faces isn’t recognizing or politicizing trans identities. The problem is dealing with shitty cisgender people. All-gender washrooms aren’t menaces, cisgender sexual predators are. Inclusive legislation won’t burn your crops. The Apocalypse’s four horsemen aren’t unleashing singular theys like plagues. Cisgender reporters who record your children swimming for the sake of a social experiment should be alarming you, not non-binary youth trying to get an education.

And now, the final irony of Dr. Peterson’s lapdogs: You are defending his freedom of speech (which as I discussed earlier is hardly under siege) by silencing the speech of the protesters through the use of threats of violence. You can’t have it both ways. Either you support free speech AND the right of the protesters to criticize Dr. Peterson OR you admit you’re an autocratic dickhead who wants to institutionalize one correct–you could say, politically correct–opinion in law that isn’t even substantiated by medical evidence.

In all this mess one thing has remained constant: Dr. Peterson has not heard a single fucking criticism leveled at him. He has accessed absolutely no evidence based argument, no attempt to humanize the issue, and offered up no ethical justification for why he singles out non-binary people for his dickishness. He wants to stand for freeze peach but doesn’t want to be called a bigot. And like YouTube’s assweasel atheists, he wants to throw up his hands and deny culpability every time his doxxsquad targets another person. In his stubborn arrogance he spews forth a constant stream of suspicion and denigration over academically established concepts and cloaks his refusal to actually engage with the material that was presented to him in good faith as being a “free speech” issue.

I have news for you Dr. Peterson. No one is infringing on your free speech.

We just think you’re a fucking duncecap.

-Shiv