Men Behaving Badly
Source: Woman accuses Al Franken of kissing, groping her without consent
Under the heading of “it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy” comes the most recent allegation du jour of harassment/molestation and general sexually inappropriate behavior, this time directed towards the charming Al Franken. As if we need one more reason to dislike him. Since the floodgates literally burst open last month with the “shocking” revelations of the real life Jabba the Hut, Harvey Weinstein, men (and those that resemble men), from virtually all corners and echelons of society have been outed like cockroaches in a kitchen when the lights come on.
From Entertainment, to Politics, to Industry, to Media, the roster of alleged scoundrels and worse is expanding so quickly that it may be easier to count those that didn’t rather than tabulate those that did. The really shocking revelations are not the Weinsteins, Spaceys and Frankens of the world, those hardly raise an eyebrow. But apparently even George Bush senior is a cad! George Bush! While certainly his transgressions aren’t anywhere close to the d-baggery exhibited by the other characters, the net of shame will likely go on to ensnare many others who may have had even a hint of impropriety expressed during their lives…even if it was 40 years ago. However, to characterize this avalanche of bad behavior as sudden would be wrong. It’s only the revelations that are sudden. We can bet that opportunists will jump to portray that there are two kinds of men; those that have been outed and those that will be outed.
Oddly, while the activities of the ever increasing cast of miscreants are exposed and helping the cause of heretofore silent victims, they also create a new class of victims…. those being the vast majority of men who behave as civilized people. Now they too will be on eggshells wondering if any or every one of their actions will be construed as some kind of assault. Suddenly, like gun owners, all men will be cast collectively as villains because of the actions of a few.
We will see instances of even innocent interactions with vastly different contexts labelled as examples of ‘abuse’. As an example, the vague claim of “unwanted attention”. Most women will be the subject of attention at some point. Whether it’s wanted or not may depend on whether it’s Brad Pitt or Al Franken. Since there are many more Al Frankens in the world than Brad Pitts, it’s likely that most attention will be unwanted. So, while the exposing of d-bag behavior is good, we expect that lots of innocents will be tarred as well.
The common denominator in all the cases of improper conduct is that instances of abuse are linked with disparities of power. Someone in a position of influence by way of station or fame feels empowered to exceed the bounds of acceptable social behavior. Why? Because they get away with it. Many of the worst recently exposed miscreants are entertainers. They have always escaped responsibility for their crassness by virtue of being ‘artists’ and have been placed on pedestals by their adoring fans. Some may notice that no janitors or window washers have been outed for abusing co workers. But if you live at the top of the power pyramid, you are allowed to believe that rules are for lesser folk. That’s not a phenomenon peculiar to American society; it’s a social dynamic that exists in all of nature. The point of having an evolved and civilized society is that its members are expected to behave as civilized people. Those that choose to not behave accordingly deserve to be outed.
Now that women have been empowered to speak out, maybe the best solution to keep this behavior at bay is the classic one; a good punch in the nose.