Canadian New Democrat MP Irene Mathyssen (pictured), the shadow cabinet minister for the anti-male Status of Women Canada, chose to falsely accuse and humiliate a male colleague on the floor of the Canadian House of Commons last week. In a recent column, Canadian National Post columnist Barbara Kay wrote:
“New Democrat MP Irene Mathyssen looked over the shoulder of Conservative MP, James Moore where he sat in the front row of the government benches Tuesday night, and saw what seemed to her to be a seductively dressed woman on the screen of his laptop computer. This is his personal computer, you understand, so her inspection of his screen was tantamount to viewing his private papers or mail, and she had not asked permission or been invited to look at it. Just so we”re clear on the principle.
“OK, so let”s start again. Ms Mathyssen was eavesdropping on Mr Moore. She didn”t know who the ‘scantily clad’ woman on the screen was, but having brooded on the possibilities overnight, then rose the next day on a point of privilege to allege he was viewing inappropriate material. The implication in such an allegation, let”s be clear, is that the man is a pervert. As a result a mortified Moore was forced to issue a public denial that he was looking at pornography. Turns out it was his girlfriend. Oops, my bad, Ms Mathyssen realizes, so she calls Mr Moore and apologizes. Case closed for her.
“But perhaps not for Mr Moore. He just got put through a bit of a wringer for nothing.
“Let”s unpack this incident a bit. What MP would be so idiotic as to take the risk of visiting a porn site in the House of Commons on a computer whose screen is open to any busybody? What was Ms Mathyssen”s motive in ‘outing’ him when she had no evidence to support her supposition? Scantily clad women are all over the Internet and also all over real life. Scantily clad is in fact the norm in fashion.
“What would Ms Mathyssen have done if she happened to look over the shoulder of a female MP and actually did see soft porn? Would she rise on a point of personal privilege to humiliate a woman colleague? I think not. I think she would have protected her. And let’s not pretend that women never look at porn. Ms Mathyssen clearly relished the opportunity to embarrass a man caught in the act of being a typical man according to the feminist playbook.”
Kay suggests that the men in Mathyssen’s district vote her out of office. I heartily agree. The full article is False allegations claims another male victim, this time MP James Moore (12/7/07).