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Is Flirting Sexual Harassment?
Townhall.com ^ | Dec 08, 2017 | Mona Charen

Posted on 12/07/2017 9:57:08 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom

In 2003 a genetics paper revealed that one in 200 men alive in that year was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan (1162-1227). Khan was the Mongol emperor whose armies swept out of the north to conquer pretty much all of Asia. His successors took big chunks of Europe as well. When Marco Polo traveled to China, he met the conqueror's grandson Kublai Khan.

Genghis Khan is thought to have left more corpses in his wake than any other invader. The Mongol hordes earned their fearsome reputation. Khan sent emissaries to the city of Merv in Turkmenistan demanding tribute and the pick of the city's most beautiful women. The Seljuk Turks refused and killed the messengers. Khan's army returned three years later. The city's leaders, perhaps having heard of Khan's ferocity in the interim, surrendered, but Khan's wrath was not assuaged. He ordered the entire city to be annihilated. Each soldier was to behead 300 civilians. Merv, which contained libraries, gardens, and palaces, was razed and made uninhabitable for 100 years.

The Mongol conqueror is supposed to have said:

"The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him, to take from them all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms."

Roughly 800 years later, his Y chromosome is to be found in 16 million men. Talk about conquests.

Let's just imagine that most of world history is analogous to the Mongol invasions. Great armies or small armies or just neighboring clans sweep in, kill the men and rape the women (or take them as wives eventually, but it's the same result genetically). Whose genes are we all more likely to have inherited -- the conquerors or the conquered? How many of us are walking around with Henry VIII's genes or Casanova's?

It's not just that the aggressors raped their way to success, either. Somewhere in our lizard brains, we admire the strongmen, and yes, that means you, ladies. Every woman who is drawn to the "bad boy" or the "leader of the pack" is expressing a primitive preference that has never been quite squelched.

So, when it comes to oafs like Al Franken and (insert your favorite reprobate here) and people ask, "How could he behave that way?" the answer has to begin with: Men will do what they think they can get away with. And for the last several decades, in matters of sex, it has been more or less anything goes. That may be changing as we speak.

Now, some fear, we are in the midst of a "moral panic." I dislike the term because it's sometimes applied to plain old morality. When Tipper Gore launched a campaign to label lyrics for profanity and other objectionable content, her effort was called a panic. On the other hand, anxiety about Satanic child abuse supposedly rampant at daycare centers was not a moral panic so much as mass hysteria. In any case, some, such as Ella Whelan at Spiked, think they detect some of that: "This is now a witch hunt on social media. ... The panic about harassment and women's safety is spinning out of control. Listening to some feminists, you'd be forgiven for thinking women are in danger every time they step into the street." Others are worried that flirting and office romances may be considered out of bounds in the current climate. Cathy Young notes that a tweet by the singer-songwriter Marian Call telling men "how happy women would be if strangers & co-workers never 'flirted' with us again" became an Internet sensation for a day or two.

I don't speak for Call or the thousands who retweeted her, but it sure seems like the quotation marks around the word flirt was key. The men who are receiving much-deserved comeuppance right now were not flirting. Showing a woman pornography is not a come-on. Grabbing her by the hair and force kissing her is caveman stuff, not a hint of admiration.

These high-profile slobs were doing what they thought they could get away with. Most men, I hope (and I bet most women hope), still know how to flirt without being offensive. Because if we're going to embark on building some sort of counter-counterculture, it's going to have to target grossness, not romance.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: flirting
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This phase will blow over soon and things will go right back to the way they were. Try as they might the PC crowd hasn't changed human nature yet.
1 posted on 12/07/2017 9:57:08 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

"What are you so aggravated about?"

"I spend an hour putting on make-up,
coordinating my pants and blouse
and doing my hair.  And l had barely
got out the front door when some
strange guy harassed me!"

"Wow.  What did he do?"

"He noticed!"
2 posted on 12/07/2017 10:04:17 PM PST by sparklite2 (I hereby designate the ongoing kerfuffle Diddle-Gate.)
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To: sparklite2

That sounds like something Gracie Allen would have said to George Burns.

From my observation, most flirting is only that; advertising one’s interest and availability. Some level of flirting is necessary to get the message out. Birds do it, Bees do it too.


3 posted on 12/07/2017 10:15:14 PM PST by lee martell
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

I have a boss that asks me for some vanilla in her coffee every week. She happens to be black and I am white. It means nothing.


4 posted on 12/07/2017 10:18:41 PM PST by blackdog
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

As I’ve been saying all along. If women are mad now just wait til men stop making passes at them.


5 posted on 12/07/2017 10:21:53 PM PST by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

Then there’s the other way, where a guy (your supervisor) makes it clear that if you aren’t attracted to him, your job is TOAST. He will then make your life hell.

It ruins careers.

This has been going on for decades. For the record, I support Roy Moore, and I am a 100% Trump supporter. But I know this sh*t happens.


6 posted on 12/07/2017 10:22:11 PM PST by KJC1 (Illegals: One hand out and the other one flipping us the bird)
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To: lee martell


I was going more for  "My
Friend Irma," but there were
no animations.

7 posted on 12/07/2017 10:26:21 PM PST by sparklite2 (I hereby designate the ongoing kerfuffle Diddle-Gate.)
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To: sparklite2

I’ve heard of that show. I think it was on radio, but it happened before I was old enough to really listen. Like the show Topper.
I was born during the Eisenhower Administration,
back when America had only 48 states.


8 posted on 12/07/2017 10:32:20 PM PST by lee martell
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To: Seruzawa

It’s happening — just go on YouTube and search for MGTOW. And the feminazis are furious.


9 posted on 12/07/2017 10:43:50 PM PST by piytar (http://www.truthrevolt.org/videos/bill-whittle-number-one-bullet)
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

You mean, like Pepe Le Pew?


       

10 posted on 12/07/2017 10:51:10 PM PST by Songcraft
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

No, things have changed. Women have become more sensitive and men have become more wary. This is what the feminists want.


11 posted on 12/07/2017 11:09:45 PM PST by Crucial
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To: blackdog

Well, it may not be a moral outrage but it does sound like some good ol’ interracial flirting. :)


12 posted on 12/07/2017 11:12:53 PM PST by Crucial
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To: blackdog

Jump her bones, man! Does she have to BEG?!

;)


13 posted on 12/07/2017 11:14:44 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: sparklite2
How women used to deal with harassment:


14 posted on 12/07/2017 11:18:47 PM PST by Rastus
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To: sparklite2

Some women get very upset when a guy expresses interest, if they don’t consider the guy attractive. The guy is supposed to know ahead of time whether she will be receptive to flirting.

Women are hypergamous, looking for the best man they can get. By initiating flirting, the guy is indicating that he thinks he is the best she can get. If she doesn’t agree, she feels insulted.

Women look for Mr Right. Men look for Miss Good Enough For Tonight.


15 posted on 12/07/2017 11:20:01 PM PST by SauronOfMordor (Socialists want YOUR wealth redistributed, never THEIRS!)
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To: Rastus

Love this!


16 posted on 12/07/2017 11:20:28 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
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To: Oshkalaboomboom

No, flirting is not sexual harrassment.

Talking today to my mom’s home visiting physical therapist. He was all about how overly careful he needs to be. NOT TRUE. Men just need to be decent and not touch, grope, or talk overtly about sex (no Trump style locker room talk with the ladies) at work. Go ahead and joke, smile, and even ask her to get coffee, or a beer, off premises. Allowed. Not harrassment. If she says no, don’t ask again. Easy. Come on, guys. These pervs were grabbing sex organs, either the woman’s or their own, in work settings, in inappropriate ways. Women are not your enemy, guys. We love to flirt. We just don’t want to see you “loving the potted plants” in restaurants or in the office. There is a big difference.


17 posted on 12/07/2017 11:20:47 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: Pray All Day

I LOVE PEPE LE PEW.


18 posted on 12/07/2017 11:21:14 PM PST by Yaelle
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To: Rastus

But now I am hungry for pancakes. Is that from a silent film?


19 posted on 12/07/2017 11:22:00 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
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To: Yaelle

And being friendly shouldn’t be considered flirty anyway. It’s healthy for women to encourage men to be chivalrous. (Buying lunch, opening doors, etc...) not everything has to be interpreted as making a move. And basic acts of kindness should be seen as manly not effeminate. I wonder if sometimes thats why homosexuality exists: because men feel no outlet to express qualities traditionally considered “feminine” (sensitivity, artistry, etc...)


20 posted on 12/07/2017 11:29:23 PM PST by GoldenState_Rose
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