If we are going to get past arbitrary codes of conduct, (religion) and move to a rational society based on equal protection under the law we are going to have to check our privilege at the door. If your behavior makes another human being uncomfortable you have to be willing to look at that behavior. As a bald headed fat man with lots of scary tattoos and a long beard I do not have to worry about random assaults upon my person. People cross the street to avoid me as the saying goes so I am not going to understand the level of discomfort that an average woman may feel when confronted with unwanted advances no matter how benign in the eye of the confronter.
As the current celebrity do-gooders VS. the Village Voice dust up shows there are a lot of bad numbers when it comes to sexual exploitation and or assault but 1 in 7 women as victims of some type of sexual attack in the US is what is out there. That number is low by the experiences of women I have talked with over the years but that doesn’t put it out of the realm of possibility. This reality requires one to at least listen when a woman claims that your behavior was inappropriate. I would have thought that educated skeptics would listen to the evidence as a matter of course but that doesn’t seem to be the default position when it comes to women and their complaints.
No comments:
Post a Comment