User:Atcovi/The Rogerian Project

Topic
'''Is the Me Too Movement really helping people recognize the widespread issue of harassment, or is the movement only interested in lionizing the strength of certain women? Alternatively, you could argue whether the movement is actually solving the issue of sexual harassment and assault in the workplace, or if it is setting a dangerous precedent wherein serious claims are believed without proof? Or, All of this can be summed up by debating the question is the Me Too movement fair?'''

Reading

 * The Glaring Blind Spot of the 'Me Too' Movement

Roles
AA: #MeToo Movement is negative & focuses only on women, neglecting men

AS: #MeToo Movement is positive & gives light to women who may be scared to speak up.

Script

 * AS: The #MeToo Movement is a positive, sophisticated, and necessary movement that gives light, courage, and a platform to women so that they can speak up about their sexual assault experiences.
 * AA: Thank you Amrie for stating your view. I agree that it does a good job at providing female victims of sexual assault a platform to speak up against sexual violence (& persay, their experiences), but the #MeToo movement fails to account for men and may put men in a negative light as the #MeToo Movement may put false accusations on the spotlight. According to Yue Ming's description on learningtogive.org, the movement only "advocates for females... to speak about their experience" (Ming, learningtogive.org) . This excludes men and potentially discourages men from speaking out about their experiences - especially if the abuser is female. Therefore, the movement is negative and neglects the other gender.
 * AS: Interesting perspective, Aaqib. I'm happy that you're including men into the conversation. I agree that they need to be involved in the discussion. But sexual assaults occur mostly to females rather than males, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention . Wouldn't it make sense that there is a movement for women when they constitute as the majority of sexual violence victims?
 * AA: Amrie, I'm glad you're giving a platform for the victims of sexual assault. The mentioning of the CDC's words validates your credibility and I appluad the fact that you're backing up your claims with evidence. Although majority of sexual assault victims are women, this does not justify the narrowness of the #MeToo Movement. Men are also victims of sexual assault and this is a widely-known phenomenon. It isn't right to only give a platform for women when a sizeable number of men also experience sexual violence.
 * AA: Also, in addition, the #MeToo Movement has been criticized for giving validity to false accusations. A majority of men are afraid of being with a woman with no third-party involved . There is also cases of women falsely accusing men of violence that have damaged the lives of men (e.g., Johnny Depp & Amber Heard) . I don't just believe men should be involved, but should be given the same platform that women also get with the #MeToo Movement. Additionally, I also believe that the #MeToo Movement directs false accusations.
 * AS: Although you've mentioned a lot here, both of your points are completely reasonable. I'm beginning to see your point and I've believed we've reached a common ground in that the #MeToo Movement should give more platform to men. Male & female victims both should feel 100% comfortable on speaking out about their experiences - and I feel like the #MeToo community can do better in including men as well. As for the second point, the #MeToo Movement does not direct false accusations - but they give a platform for valid stories. The case you've mentioned is a horrific example of a false accuser causing significant damage, but the #MeToo community does not direct or initiate accusations - its simply a platform for sexual assault victims to speak up about their experience. I also believe that the community shouldn't automatically believe every accusation, but should treat every accusation seriously & wait until the accusation is proven true. This is akin to ISIS not being a part of Islam and moderate Muslims are strongly detached from ISIS (extremist interpretation of Islam).
 * AA: I'm glad that we've reached a common ground for my first point. The #MeToo Movement can be used as a platform for men as long as the community welcomes men who have experienced sexual violence. As for the second point, I believe we're eached common ground for this one point as you've explained to me the mechanisms behind the #MeToo Movement. As long as the #MeToo Movement gives a way for male sexual assault victims and does not play a part in initating false accusations, I'm ok with accepting that it is a positive movement.

Questions

 * 1) What are your real thoughts on the topic that you had to discuss?
 * 2) AA & AS: I believe the #MeToo Movement is a valid movement as it gives a space for women to discuss their sexual assault stories & experiences. I also strongly condemn false accusations but I personally do not find a problem with men being more careful with women. This should be the norm anyhow and if the #MeToo Movement is forcing men to be more careful around women, I'm all for it. I don't believe a man should be alone with a woman alone - there should be a third-party involved. As for the movement itself, its valid and gives a platform for women who've unfortunately experienced sexual violence.
 * 3) What were some of your biggest challenges about formulating claims for discussion of the topic?
 * 4) AA & AS: I believe our biggest challenge was to stick with the script despite our interruption. Midway through the video, "AA" was berated for his stance and that he wasn't "going to get women" despite not showing any intentions of "getting women". We struggled with staying on-topic as seen with AS' continuous laughter throughout the video. Unfortunately, we had a lot of visitors over the weekend & we were not prepared for the sudden, insulting interruption.
 * 5) What were the most difficult aspects of engaging in a Rogerian Debate?
 * 6) AA & AS: Both of us agreed that the most difficult part about the Rogerian Debate was to recap the points. We both felt like it was tedious & unnecessary, but it gained clarity on both of our arguments and we're glad this was implemented so we could engage in a healthy debate.
 * 7) Did you feel more confident making your claims with the knowledge that you were not supposed to be interrupted or aggressively disagreed with? Did this encourage you to elaborate more on your turns? Did this make you more or less patient when it was your partner's turn to speak?
 * 8) AA & AS: We both felt like the structure of the Rogerian Argument made us more confident in us stating our arguments as it allowed us to be heard of 100%. This encouraged us to explain our positions more deeply and although it did make AA a bit impatient, nonetheless, it allowed us to engage in a healthy argument