Another Male Feminist Accused of Sexual Misconduct

As a guy who has written a fair amount on masculinity, the idea of “male feminists” always seems a little counterintuitive to me. Some who identify as such are well-meaning guys who have bought into the soundbite of feminism simply being the idea that men and women should be treated equally, but who don’t know any better.

However, an alarming number seem to have really drunk the feminist Kool-Aid. So why? A popular notion is that such men are espousing these positions in hopes of appealing to women. However, the motives of this guy were even less lofty — much less:

Comedian and lauded male feminist Jamie Kilstein has departed the podcast he co-hosts amid allegations of manipulation and abuse from multiple women.

On Monday morning, liberal independent podcast Citizen Radio and its co-host Allison Kilkenny announced that Kilstein would be leaving the program. Later that day, however, Kilkenny clarified that Kilstein’s departure from the podcast was a result of allegations of him preying upon, manipulating, and emotionally abusing women.

In a Facebook post slightly detailing the decision, Kilkenny, who is also Kilstein’s ex-wife, wrote that “murmurs” of Kilstein’s abuse lingered in the past, but because of anonymity, she was “never able to learn the full scope of what happened.”

That was until a few days ago, Kilkenny wrote, when “one of the women” who came forward was someone who had worked for the podcast, though she doesn’t mention how many women came forward initially. Kilkenny wrote that she asked Kilstein to leave the show, seek therapy, and apologize publicly. She said he has declined to do the latter, so she decided to clarify the situation in the post instead.

I’d love to say this is the first time a male feminist was accused for sexual misconduct in some way, but it’s not.

In fact, Kilstein’s behavior is downright pedestrian compared to what some male feminists have been accused of in the past. Yes, I know, accusations don’t mean he did it according to objective reality — but according to the playbook Kilstein advocated for so long, he’s already guilty. So I offer him no sympathy.

Far too often, people are outright nasty about other people doing the very activities they engage in themselves. Don’t get me wrong, I hate hypocrisy as much as anyone, but at least Larry Craig wasn’t victimizing anyone — he was asking for a consensual transaction to take place.

Too bad some male feminists are turning out to be actual predators.