Posted on 09/20/2016 4:59:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
The most famous American photo of World War II is undoubtedly that of the four Marines planting the American flag on Iwo Jima. The second most famous is probably the legendary photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt's picture of an American sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square in New York City, when people were celebrating Japan's surrender.
The kiss was not, of course, merely a peck on the cheek. If it were, no photo would have been taken. And if one were, no one would have remembered it. The sailor clearly grabbed the nurse. She is leaning backward, bent at the waist; he is holding her up with both hands around her waist.
The photo has been back in the news because the woman, identified as Greta Zimmer Friedman, died on Sept. 8, at age 92. She was 21 when the picture was taken.
The sailor, later identified as George Mendonsa, mistook Friedman's dental assistant uniform for that of a nurse. He later explained that he hugged and kissed her because of his overwhelming gratitude for the work nurses had performed while he was in combat in the Navy, because of his elation over the war ending and because he had had a few drinks. As he put it, when he and Friedman were reunited in 2012 at the spot of their kiss, it was "the excitement of the war bein' over, plus I had a few drinks, so when I saw the nurse I grabbed her, and I kissed her."
Any American who looks at that photo today realizes just how different a time we live in.
If a man were to do that to a woman today, he would likely be charged with sexual assault, found guilty, be ordered to pay a serious sum of money to the woman, be sent to prison, be civilly sued and be labeled a sex offender -- effectively ruining much of his life.
She, on the other hand, would be regarded as victim of sexual assault and labelled a survivor, and would seek psychological counseling.
Living in pre-feminist darkness, Friedman did not see it this way. As her son told the New York Daily News, "My mom always had an appreciation for a feminist viewpoint, and understood the premise that you don't have a right to be intimate with a stranger on the street. ...(But) she didn't assign any bad motives to George in that circumstance, that situation, that time."
One reason might be that she was a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Europe, and, unlike feminists in America, she knew real evil.
Given the context, the act was essentially innocent. Reinforcing its innocence are the facts that the kiss was very brief and Mendonsa's wife can be seen smiling in the background.
But in the feminist age of enlightenment in which we live, when it comes to any act of physical intimacy by a man with a woman, there is no such thing as "context." Unless there is a verbal "yes" accompanying every act by the man, the presumption is that the intimacy was a sexual assault, a form of rape.
Thus, in today's America, George Mendonsa is deemed to have committed an act of sexual assault. Context has no say.
On the Sarasota, Florida, waterfront there is a 28-foot statue of Mendonsa kissing Friedman. It clearly offends at least one Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist. A few days after Friedman's death, Chris Anderson acknowledged that the statue "represents euphoria, innocence, romance, nostalgia and a level of unity and pride this country arguably has not seen since V-J Day." But as a someone who surely attended college and probably graduate school, he sees the darker side, saying, "Is it possible that thousands upon thousands of people over the last seven years have come to the Sarasota waterfront to unwittingly pose in front of a giant depiction of a sexual assault?"
Likewise, the writer of the New York Times obituary of Friedman felt compelled to note that "In recent years, some have noted its darker undertones." Among the examples cited was Time Magazine, which in 2014 had written, "many people view the photo as little more than the documentation of a very public sexual assault, and not something to be celebrated."
There is no question that there needed to be greater sensitivity to men's physical interactions with women, and that too many men did in fact get away with rape.
But America is not a better place -- nor, for that matter, are American women happier -- because we now consider George Mendonsa a sexual criminal and Greta Friedman a survivor of sexual assault.
For most Americans, America was -- with all the flaws that did indeed have to be dealt with -- a happier and more innocent place then. That's why there is a statue of that kiss at the Sarasota waterfront. And that's why "thousands upon thousands" of couples pose for pictures in front of it.
They are celebrating life, America, and men and women. At college, American kids are taught to fear all three.
Today even incidental physical contact can be interpreted as sexual assault. So now men do not touch women, not because of cooties, but because of the real potential for lawsuits and criminal charges.
< You forgot mandatory re-programming classes !
Oh yeah all the indoctrination camps posing as our educational system...oops my bad...: )
I regularly ride both the Boston and NYC subways and I often find myself standing in a crowded train.I'm *always* aware that if I lost my balance (which does happen thanks to my bad hip) I,a white haired guy pushing 70 and with a *spotless* criminal record,could find myself in prison and a registered sex offender.
I would love it if a man did that to me....
Still in contention, but I have no reason to not believe Bradley and the three Marines that named him as a flag-raiser.
Not going to happen any time soon, eh?
Something not mentioned is that having been denied the opposite gender for years, both the returning military personnel and the women waiting for them at home desperately wanted the obvious. Not just sex as liberals imagine, though that was part of it.
They desperately wanted to get married, get an education in many cases, get jobs, and get a home.
It resulted in a “revolution of normalcy”.
The returning veterans also had no tolerance for the brittle and unwanted social structures that still existed in much of the US. Racial segregation, small towns run by pseudo religious cliques (think of the movie ‘Footloose’ which depicted this, anachronistically, in a later time), and to a greater extent small town life itself.
This resulted in explosive growth to the new western cities and suburbs, and the pursuit of the American Dream became the new goal.
Colleges and universities that had long been in control of their students lives were informed that their purpose was exclusively education, and they could butt out of the rest of it. In turn, the veterans were serious about getting degrees, so tolerated little mischief by other faculty or students.
In the meantime time they are mainstreaming perversion, race bating and hatred of Traditional American Values.
What a fun bunch they are.
What was Hillary’s defense about the e-mails?...intent? Can’t we find in this case that there was no “intent” of sexual assault?
Or is that just a suitable defense for a liberal politician for lying out her xxx?
Nah! It’s because of the cooties!
And don't forget America's FIRST Muslim President's part.
When Hillary was going to jail for email scam/Secretary of State pay for play scam, Hussein called her.
As part of the agreement, Hussein called the FBI Dir and Att General and told them there would be NO indictment. Hillary's part is to continue Hussein's insane flooding of America with His Muslim "refugees."
The other parts of Hillary's sellout will be revealed once she wins the election. Who cares what Americans want. George Soros owns the election machines and he wants Hillary because he owns her too.
When Trump wins in a landslide, meet me in Times Square. I'll be the good looking guy wearing the Hillary for Jail 2016 shirt and ......
I’ll be there....
I’ll be the pretty lady with Make America Great hat...
and shirt
and pin
and bumper sticker
You get the idea, right....
San Diego
Step 1: Find a man, preferably a decent one
Step 2: Build a relationship
Step 3: ...
Step 4: Profit?
I remember Becky from back in college ... would have loved to, but ... she was too busy being angry and bitter about her previous boyfriend. Huzzah.
Personality says a lot. Even if you aren’t perfect (who is), being approachable and friendly goes a long way.
Sending negative signals all day, on the other hand, will only get negative results. Flies and vinegar and all that.
I had to look that up - I wondered what it was made of. It’s called ‘Unconditional Surrender’(!) and is fiberglass; going to be (has been?) replaced with a bronze copy:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/16089
and shirt
and pin
and bumper sticker
You get the idea, right....
If they make a statue of us, will they put all of the PRO-Trump political propaganda on it too?
I like your dress propaganda better, PRO-TRUMP and forget the Secretary of State scammer.
PFL
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