In a recent interview with Rex Murphy, Canadian psychology professor Jordan Peterson said he has been off Twitter for about three months since being “mobbed” by critics, lamenting, almost on the brink of tears - as trolls claimed - that “civilised, socialised people cannot tolerate being mobbed".
Netizens, meanwhile, couldn’t resist the temptation to attack the renowned social critic over his emotional display:
He seems quite miserable for a self help guru tbh
— Tanishq Iyengar (@Tanishq_I) October 21, 2019
You all love tearing people down. Enjoying someones tears is villainy.
— Dees Beach (@JVlove15) October 22, 2019
Our beautiful daddy twink broken by Twitter mob
— CUMBRAINED TWINK (@HalfTwink) October 20, 2019
However, a whole army of supporters stood up in the academic’s defence, arguing those mocking the well-known masculinity promoter’s show of feelings are “sociopaths” with many bringing up staggering male suicide rates:
people laughing at jordan peterson crying, saying he should 'man up' or stop being fragile whatever the fuck are sociopaths
— june (@shoe0nhead) October 22, 2019
and this is why the male suicide rate is so high, men think they’re supposed to bottle shit up because of those kinds of people
— Jack 🗣💯 (@VanillaBepis) October 22, 2019
Gotta love the flipflopping. "Be emotional" they say, but if someone they don't like gets emotional then that's the 1st thing they attack.
— Columba Tiberius Dorchester (@dorchester_t) October 22, 2019
Not even safe around people who mostly + with you. They just atk the opening to force a reactive shuttering of emotions. Or to be dicks.
This is why male suicide rate is high :(
— matthew (@mxtth3wDND) October 22, 2019
And this is what happens when a man shows emotions that so many people say they need to show... we can't win
— carl bernaldo (@boewolf359) October 22, 2019
One meanwhile remarked that Peterson is not on the verge of crying in the interview video, but more likely “a tad sadder” than always:
I saw the video and I’m shocked people are calling that crying. That’s literally just a tad sadder than he sounds normally.
— Gornold Dornaldstein (@Dundle1) October 22, 2019
It’s partly the thick Canadian accent but he’s always kinda souded like that.
…while another mentioned a personal tragedy that could have impacted his tone:
I'm just playing
— L'Élite de la Nation au Chômage (@ItDuwang) October 21, 2019
This is sad
Peterson's wife just died so I think there's a little correlation between that event and his state of mind
Peterson, author of the bestselling book “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos”, called it a “terrible shock” and said that it “really hurts…[people are] often damaged for lengthy periods of time".
The professor has spawned controversy for his opposition to hyped modern-day values like social and gender equality.
More specifically, Peterson has risen to fame in recent years as an anti-PC advocate when he expressed opposition to addressing a student by their preferred gender pronouns, if it's stipulated by law, although he was not against doing as students themselves please. Peterson later posted YouTube videos calling out Bill C-16, a Canadian bill banning discrimination against people on the basis of “gender identity or expression", arguing it would infringe on his personal freedom of speech.
In mid-October, a new documentary on the professor, titled “The Rise of Jordan Peterson”, an extended version of an earlier film set out on a journey across Canada and the US, with the screenings scheduled in a number of venues, despite earlier cancellations in New York and Toronto.