Celebrity Sex Allegations - The New 'Moral Panic'

A moral panic is defined in Wikipedia as a feeling of fear spread among a large number of people that some evil threatens the well-being of society. A Dictionary of Sociology defines a moral panic as "the process of arousing social concern over an issue – usually the work of Moral Entrepreneurs and the mass media".

Some past examples of moral panics that have swept the nation are:
The Salem Witch Trials
McCarthyism
The Daycare Sex Abuse Hysteria of the 1980's & 90's
HIV/AIDS Panic
Muslim Terrorism Suspicion

Moral panics are usually spread by mainstream media in order to confuse or distract from larger or more tangible issues.  The tell-tale signs of a moral panic are the lack of solid evidence to back up claims and allegations that arise out of seemingly nowhere yet are highly publicized as a trend. Most moral panics are also political by nature and politicians quickly seek to capitalize on the two-sided morality coin.

Some of the accused in 2017 (clockwise): Al Franken,
George Takei, Mariah Carey, Kevin Spacey

The problem with a moral panic (aside from the fact that the claims made at the height of it are generally false) is that it has a tendency to spread like wildfire to the point where all citizens of the affected nation become retaliatory against & suspicious of each other.

Although there might be some truth to the accusations at first, those same allegations can become warped over time due to our human tendency toward exaggeration, hyperbole and our inability to remember things exactly as they happened. Before long, both the accuser & the accused are caught in a vicious cycle of mutual blame with the general public not trusting either. The aggrieved parties rarely call a truce... especially when the allegations involve sexual misconduct.

As a blogger/journalist, I can't tell you that I know for certain what sex crimes have been perpetrated by the elite celebrity class which includes everyone from Donald Trump to George Takei (political opposites).  But what I can do is share the warning that we could be in the midst of a moral panic.  It seems they happen every 20-40 years like clockwork.

Clockwise: Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein
& Bill Cosby have all been accused sex crimes. The crimes
that Mrs. Clinton was accused of were proven false, namely
that she supposedly operated a child sex ring out of a pizza
parlor. See also: PizzaGate

Some things to keep in mind during a potential moral panic:

• Are you making accusations based on rational proof?
• Are you contributing to events that have nothing to do with you?
• Are you making assumptions based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or politics?
• How devastating would it be if you were proven wrong?
• Is there another issue going on that you should be paying attention to?