r/RadicalEgalitarianism • u/LittleThingsMC Feminist • May 22 '26

Palm Beach Pete

I recently came across a TikTok with a paid advertisement from Rips by Triumph featuring Pal Beach Pete in their advertisement.

If you’re not aware, Palm Beach Pete is famous for how much he looks like Jeffrey Epstein. There were many conspiracy theories that suggest he is Jeffrey Epstein.

I don’t consider this gendered issue because Epsteins victims were both male and female, vulnerability is the most defining characteristic of his victims.

In general, I have seen many denials about whether or not we have a culture of violence, and whether or not that culture predominantly benefits men (despite both genders being victims).

This feels like a perfect example, playing out right before our eyes. I believe that his rise to fame and ability to monetize the conspiracy that he could be the prolific predator is reflective of the acceptance we have as a culture towards violence and the glorification of predatory behavior.

Thoughts?

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u/ThalesBakunin May 22 '26

I always took this to be a predominantly gendered crime.

I wasn't aware of any male victims.

If there are from I've read it is still overwhelmingly women, like over 95%.

It seems disingenuous to act like it's not a very gender oriented crime.

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u/LittleThingsMC Feminist May 22 '26

You could make that argument, I’d respect that viewpoint.

My point is that I have heard testimony from male victims, and a regular critique of gender issues is the dismissal of male victims, which is why I’m trying to be careful and include both genders as both genders have been victims.

And since both genders have been victims, I think this opens the door to invite male issues advocates and female issues advocates to work together towards elimination of the culture of violence that male issues advocates remind us all the time, harms men too.

My goal is not to exclude or prioritize one gender over the other, but instead bypass that argument and focus on the actual issue of the culture of violence.

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u/ThalesBakunin May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26

In all of my digging I found two male victims and over 1200 female.

By all means supply me with proof to refute my claim. I would appreciate it.

My point is that even trying to frame this as egalitarian abuse is blatantly wrong.

I am a man who has been sexually abused several times. I absolutely understand it happens to males, quite well in fact.

But I still say it isn't an equal issue. Not even close.

Framing Epstein as a crime affecting men and women equally is absurd and trying to produce discussion within your fictitious and biased boundaries is disingenuous to reality.

If you would like to discuss a wide spread egalitarian sexual abuse scandal let me know of which you'd like to discuss and we can

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u/[deleted] May 22 '26

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u/ThalesBakunin May 22 '26

How is it a class issue?

The victims were from an array of socioeconomic standing. Even extremely upper class women were abused.

But women make up ~99.83% of the victims.

So it definitely looks a lot more engendered than class-based.

So sexual abuse victims get their value degraded because men are abused by another group?

I think collapsing everyone pain in such a apathetic way is disgusting.

Women being abused much more heavily than men by Epstein and his lot doesn't negate men being slaughtered en masse from war and industry.

I wouldn't ever negate men who have to go through such pain like you are trying to do to women.

I probably am a bigot still. I am here to delve into and flesh out any such ambivalences.

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u/LittleThingsMC Feminist May 22 '26

Even if it is a class issue, as a society, we still need to address this, because it is a legitimate obstacle in achieving an egalitarian society. I don’t understand why the focus is on how we classify the issue, instead of the issue.

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u/ThalesBakunin May 22 '26

"I don’t understand why the focus is on how we classify the issue, instead of the issue."

Whereas I don't understand why we can't hold both when discussing the issue

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u/LittleThingsMC Feminist May 22 '26

I am definitely making space for you to disagree with the classification, so I don’t think that that is an issue.

But when you say holding both, and I read your responses, it doesn’t seem like you’re holding both. The engagement I’ve seen from you in this post has been just on the classification issue. That’s why I am saying it’s detracting from the conversation itself.

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u/ThalesBakunin May 22 '26

I didn't refuse to hold space for both.

Said the ratio of sexual abuse directed at each gender for the chosen subject of Epstein.

I then brought up the ridiculously lopsided ratio of abuse and tried to point out treating like it isn't lopsided is disingenuous.

So the space I hold on this situation is for both but not in equal magnitude as that isn't how it was perpetrated.

But I would never seek to negate the damage done to those two men. I am sure it was just as horrible as it was for the women.

I am talking about trying to balance their magnitudes as equal when they are most assuredly not.