Pros Need to Examine THEMSELVES...

... and not project their shadow onto so-called "toxic fans."

So as those of you who keep abreast of industry news are probably aware, #MeToo 2.0 has been gaining steam within the comic book industry -- and like the original #MeToo movement, it's exposed both genuine deviants and people looking to stoke yet another moral panic.

For the past few days, I've been sitting here mulling over what exactly we should do with the existence of the Comic Book Cad. And to be honest, I don't know that I have a satisfying answer. Obviously criminal behavior should be reported to the police, of course. But as for the other stuff? Unfortunately, the creative industries seem to be especially vulnerable to legal-but-still-kind-of-skeevy corruption because in said industries, editors/producers/publishers/etc. are reluctant to quantify "merit" with objectivity. (Sales figures are a fairly good barometer in my view, but -- no creative power broker wants to sully his or her hands with rank capitalism. Ew.)

What I do know, however, is that the limp-wristed, ideologically-correct #ComicsPledge is definitely not the response we need.

I hate that thing, first of all, because - like all feminist-influenced BS - it puts all the onus on men. No, I'm sorry: women have responsibility too. You're absolutely fooling yourself if you don't think some women freely elect to use their sexual wiles to get ahead in "the business." Proposing that we police the behavior of men without also policing the behavior of women is to treat us women like helpless children.

Secondly, true sexual misconduct needs to be addressed by HR and law enforcement professionals. This idea that a bunch of clubby comic book pros are going to stamp out harassment, grooming, and manipulation through, essentially, a call-out culture is ridiculous. My God, there is so much potential for abuse in such a scheme -- especially since so many in the comic book industry have swallowed the critical social justice ideology wholesale and have demonstrated a propensity for petty vindictiveness.

If you ask me, these pros would probably be better able to expose the foxes in their hen house if they didn't spend so much time fighting phantom Nazis on Twitter. But this seems to be a typical failing of people who embrace worldviews that overemphasize the flaws of "society" and ignore individual agency. If everything evil in the world is the fault of "the system," you don't have to examine your own conscience; you can just assume the Enemy is an Other somewhere out there - like those damned Trump-supporting hicks or those dastardly "toxic fans" - instead of exploring what you yourself might be doing wrong.

It would also help if comic book pros avoided concept creep. When you put men and women together in work situations, you will get flirting and sexual tension as a matter of course. That's biology -- and most of the time, such interactions are perfectly innocuous. Alas, because of the aforementioned critical social justice ideology, the line between what's innocent and what isn't has become dangerously blurred. Consequently, words like "harassment" and "grooming" have lost real meaning -- and real punch.  The upshot? Each time a guy gets "canceled" over a randy joke reduces the chances that a real victim will be believed.

Yeah, I'm not impressed with the #ComicsPledge. It's just more misandrist political preening designed to deflect attention from the fact that many comic book pros are actually pretty terrible people. Get off Twitter, guys, and clean your own room.