Tuesday, November 21, 2017

HARASSMENT

I'm sick at heart, hearing all these sexual harassment charges that are flying about in the media today. Sick because they involve not only those with whom I politically disagree, but also those I admire. Sick because of the hysteria that seems to have taken hold of our society. Sick because we, as a culture, seem unable to make thoughtful distinctions, to think critically, to come to balanced and well-thought conclusions. And not least, sick because the "president" of this country (I use the quotation marks advisedly) has publicly boasted about the abuse of his celebrity status to molest women, and who joyfully capitalizes on his opponents' bad behavior even as he refuses to acknowledge that of his supporters--or his own.

The president, it turns out, is an uncomfortably true reflection of ourselves. It's a truly sickening moment in our history. But it is also one that holds promise for a change in social norms that, until now, have allowed men to treat women as chattels, to be exploited for their own pleasure, or often merely to assert their masculine power. It has been going on for too long. For centuries, to be honest. We're past due for a radical shift in consciousness with respect to the relationship between the sexes. Perhaps, finally, this is what we see beginning to happen.

And, by the way, lest I be misunderstood: I'm not arguing for the abdication of male power, which can just as well be turned to beneficial and creative ends. I'm arguing simply for mutual respect and for a recognition of our mutual responsibility to behave as decent, mature, and compassionate human beings.

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