I keep hearing from news outlets that we have just crossed
into a new world, a new time. The revelations of sexual harassment by some
famous men has our world spinning. At the risk of
To begin with, shame on the men who have taken advantage of
women. I’m talking about such people as Harvey Weinstein, Louis C.K., Roy Moore,
and Al Franken. These high profile men made
advances at women that were at
least misguided and at most disgusting.
All of their actions of harassment have been brought to
light by the women whom they offended, but in some instances, the men have
doubled down in their professions of innocence. They have thumbed their noses
at such accusations with ridiculous attempts to turn victims into guilty
parties.
Let’s hope that such convoluted acts to turn the tables
don’t work. The simple fact is that the men who have attacked women or harassed
them should be brought to the public spotlight. The first thing is to
acknowledge their inappropriate actions. Next should come an apology. Last, if
cases justify them, trials and penalties should come.
All assaults and harassment are bad. However, the degrees to
which these things occur must be taken into account. In many cases, multiple women
have come out to expose a single man, while in other instances, a single act
has occurred. Should they be treated the same?
Something of which we all must be aware is that sometimes
the pursuit for justice can lead to a feeding frenzy. How many more accusations
will come flooding out? How many are true? How many are spawned by persons who
hold vendettas or seek payment?
A few men have made life difficult for the rest of the male
species. To be honest, most all of us are guilty of the same acts. As teenagers,
we pushed as far as possible when we parked on dimly lit streets or sat on
couches with our dates. The scenes looked more like a wrestling matches than
times for a bit of innocent “making out.” Do those teenaged, hormone driven
acts make us guilty of the same things as the men who are accused today?
What is the outcome of this new awareness of the
inappropriate behaviors of some men? Are we going back to the days when a man
had to ask permission before kissing or hugging or cuddling with a woman? If
so, then men should be afraid of every encounter they have with women because
at any time they might be accused of sexual harassment.
I, too, want a safe world where my wife and daughter don’t
have to worry about being prey for jerks. At the same time, I want a world
where relationships aren’t stilted because a man is scared to death hold a
woman’s hand or put his arm around her. The answer for all of this lies in the
middle; both sides have to use some common
sense in dealing with each other. The other part of the answer comes with
the warning that from this day forward sexual harassment or assault will not be
tolerated at any time but will be prosecuted swiftly and harshly.
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