What the hell is it with all of these men who are getting into trouble for gross sexual harassment and misbehavior up to and including the attempted rape and rape of young children? As alleged adults? Call me a prude but it's something that not only did I know I should never do or anything I expected was tolerable for anyone to do BUT IT'S SOMETHING I KNEW WAS WRONG AND A VIOLATION OF ANOTHER PERSON'S PERSON, THEIR RIGHTS, THEIR DIGNITY.
Who brought up these guy? Tom cats? Even tom cats have more sense than a lot of them do. I would guess that easily 95% of the men I know, straight and gay, would at least know they weren't supposed to do things like that and a majority probably have been able to keep themselves from doing it and feeling ashamed and disgusted with themselves if they wanted to do it but successfully avoided doing it.
I would like to know what their porn consumption consists of because what they're accused of is exactly the kind of behavior encouraged and normalized in pornography. Is that what explains the epidemic?
Power. That explains it. Perceived more than real, but it's all about power.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine thinking it was all right to do any of it. I can't imagine doing it. I can't believe most of these men were brought up thinking it was OK.
DeleteWhat Al Franken is accused of are things I know happen among show biz people, the kiss is possibly the kind of thing that would be considered a joke among actors I've known. The incredibly stupid stunt with the photo, as well - I don't know if he's accused of actually touching her or not but it is gross. It's certainly not of the same magnitude as what Roy Moore or Harvey Weinstein or others are accused of. I agree with you that the apology, which was accepted, as long as there aren't other incidents, was the right thing to do. As long as that is the standard that others are held to it should certainly lead to some kind of formal criticism. Al Franken's career shouldn't end if that is the end of it but if I were he, I'd be thinking of who might be named as a replacement of me and suggesting that their background be looked into. I would think of women who should be considered.
A culture that encourages, celebrates and rewards indulgence is shocked when some in power overstep basic human decency in matters sexual? Shocked, shocked I say!
ReplyDeleteAlso, occasional success. My mother was in a bar in the early 70s with a friend when she noticed a young man walking down the row and speaking with the ladies. When he got to my mom, he asked, "Hey, wanna ball?" My mom declined and he turned to her friend and repeated the question and received the same reply. He kept going, and a few minutes later left the bar with someone.
The lesson: If they are occasionally successful AND face no repercussions, I think it's just human nature to ask, "Why not?" I doubt this was their first last only and lone time doing this.