Finally, a day of reckoning
The avalanche of accusations about inappropriate male behavior toward women in the public workspace indicates the country is in the middle of an unexpected cultural crisis.
Just as mass support for gay marriage took the nation by surprise, so has the sudden condemnation of inappropriate male sexual behavior become the latest social crisis. Only it isn’t sudden, as most of us have known all along that this kind of behavior was rampant and often sniggered about it. After all, it’s what men do, isn’t it? And some women, too, for that matter.
Well, no, it isn’t. Many men do, but most don’t. A small minority of women, too, but often through the use of executive power rather than muscle power to intimidate men into unwanted sexual encounters. Gay men, too, can intimidate both straight and other gay men, and presumably the same is true of some lesbian women.
Our entire society has given sexual predators leeway for generations because of attitudes such as these — “well, men are men aren’t they? And some women just ask for it, don’t they? Besides, that’s the way the world is, always has been, like it or not.”
The world that nurtured those views is collapsing. Perhaps it is collapsing because it’s celebrity time. First Harvey Weinstein, perhaps the world’s greatest movie mogul, followed by the accomplished actor Kevin Spacey were accused of predatory sexual activity. Both have disappeared from the public eye and are undergoing unspecified “treatment.”
The casting couch was once famous for female actors to lose their virtue in return for a part. In fact, it was a joke in which the whole nation shared. No more. Hands-on directors and producers who couldn’t keep their pants on are now being shown the door. But the world of the cinema and the stage is being outshone by the world of politics. Alabama U.S. Senate hopeful Roy Moore continues to fight accusations from women, including a 14-year-old girl, that when they were teenagers Moore, who was 30-something, not only dated them, but touched them inappropriately.
Yet Moore’s campaign circus — he refuses to step aside, despite the wishes of his party — was outshone this week by accusations by radio host Leeann Tweeden that Sen. Al Franken, Democrat from Minnesota, groped and harassed her during an overseas USO tour of U.S. military bases years ago. Comic Franken was not a senator at the time.
Unlike Moore, Franken immediately apologized and agreed to — indeed said he welcomed — an ethics investigation.
Still not dealt with, however, are the accusations by more than a dozen women that President Donald Trump made inappropriate overtures toward them. Some, too, are asking that the actions of former President Bill Clinton, known for his extramarital activities, be re-examined.
The uproar over inappropriate sexual behavior is not limited to the United States. In the United Kingdom, where male boorishness is even more pronounced than in the U.S., British Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon was forced to resign because of his acts toward women, especially female journalists. A number of members of Parliament have been similarly accused, and one has committed suicide.
It seems the day of reckoning could be arriving for the powerful who believe they set the standards and are, in effect, above the law. They are not. The brave women who have stepped forward in recent weeks deserve our thanks and gratitude.
There is no reason for women to fear their bosses or the place they work. Those days, at last, are coming to an end.
Bill Stewart writes about current affairs from Santa Fe. He is a former U.S. Foreign Service officer and served as a correspondent for Time magazine.