Jordan Peterson is the Flat Earth Society of psychology and philosophy

Jordan Peterson believes the best response to incel violence — violence committed by men who can’t laid because of their abhorrent personalities/hatred of women — is enforced monogamy. When women get too independent and look for mates on their own, they go after the “high-status” males, leaving the “low-status” males and the women who don’t land the high-status males to a life of loneliness and misery. Not only is this a spectacularly bad take on dating and what women do with a little bit of agency, it once again blames women for the crimes a man has committed.

Frankly, his should be enough to write this guy off. This is not something new or edgy. This is old and tired and a whole heap of hot nonsense. This isn’t me just “not getting it.” These ideas are stupid and rooted in old stereotypes that have been around forever.

The New York Times has written two op-eds glorifying Peterson’s worldview as “tough” and a sort of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” type of thing. Peterson rejects the idea of white privilege. Like Ben Shapiro, he complains about not being taking seriously by the “mainstream media” despite having a YouTube channel where millions of people watch every video he puts out.

Not to be outdone, the Los Angeles Times recently came out with an op-ed explaining that Peterson may not be right 100 percent of the time, but if feminists can’t come up with better ideas than the ones he has, then maybe they should listen to his. Cathy Young, the author of the article, also confuses the concept of toxic masculinity and plays one of my favorite cards about gender relations in the workplace — how can a man tell the difference between flirting and harassment?

First, how does someone who doesn’t understand the concept of toxic masculinity get to write for the LA Times? Toxic masculinity doesn’t mean masculinity itself is toxic — I am a huge fan of The Rock, and he is very, very masculine. Toxic masculinity is the idea that men shouldn’t share their feelings because feelings are weak and men are always strong. It’s simple!

Secondly, if you are a man who cannot tell the difference between flirting and harassment, then don’t do it at all. Almost every man I’ve ever worked with can tell the difference, which makes you, not all women, the problem.

Y’all. Jordan Peterson thinks the world comes down to either chaos or order, and all things that are bad are chaos and all things that are good are order. He also thinks chaos is feminine. He makes claims about lobsters and humans and their dating habits as if they are connected and they are not. He thinks the government should get involved if your booty call doesn’t text you afterwards.

Listening to him doesn’t mean you’re some kind of master of objectivity that’s just “looking at all sides” of an issue. Jordan Peterson is the Flat Earth Society of psychology and philosophy. He is a relic from a time better left behind. With a big platform means big responsibility. LA Times and NY Times, do better.

Featured image via YouTube

Caitlin Cohen

Caitlin Cohen graduated from Boston University with a degree in History. She has written for DeadState for three and a half years. She technically speaks French. She lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend and has big plans to one day get a dog.