Ben Shapiro’s and Zoey Tur’s Walk on the Wild Side…Can they Kiss and Make Up?

Why did Shapiro address Tur as “Sir?” Only Shapiro can know the full extent of that answer. But clearly, Tur and other guests believe that Shapiro’s intent was to insult, marginalize, and belittle. Indeed, Tur responded as one might expect (and even hope for) a black person to react had they just been called the n-word. So does addressing a transsexual as “Sir” equate to that racial epithet? Would motive matter?

Shapiro’s argument was that his intent was not to insult Tur. Rather, he argued that addressing Tur as “Sir” was an act of defiance against a social movement that insists on purely self-defined normality, and which considers dissent from a particular individual’s self definition as hate per se. He’s uncomfortable with the idea that a person can choose to switch their gender identity at will, and outraged at the notion that he must be labeled as hateful simply for questioning the idea. Thus, “Sir.”

But this last point begs a question: In a casual social setting, perhaps a friendly dinner party for example, would Shapiro still have used “Sir?” In such an environment, there would be no cameras around, no platform for Shapiro to make a larger statement with “Sir.” Tur would not be a proxy representing some larger movement (as Tur does by appearing as a panelist on a televised opinion show). In such a setting, addressing Tur as “Sir” would seem more calculated to insult, belittle, and marginalize another human being. My guess is he would not use “Sir” off camera.

Shapiro has apparently set the wheels in motion for a criminal case against Tur. Personally, I am struggling to decide whether that’s appropriate. It would seem to me a much greater victory for Shapiro, and all of those in favor of blunting the overused sword of false ‘hate’ accusations, if he could somehow convince Tur of his motives. Tur need not publicly acknowledge agreement with Shapiro, just merely that Tur and the other guests were wrong to accuse Shapiro of ‘hate.’

Then they can kiss and make up.