That was the kind of post I come here for.
When I think of harassment, I always recall Charlton Heston’s comment about (I think) his doctor’s office, which was staffed by mostly women. The women had a sign up in plain sight—”Harassment will not be reported but it will be graded.” I also think of Camille Paglia’s observations about construction workers talking crudely to some passing women who then turned around and called them on their offensiveness and tough-talk—the men always backed down and looked stupid.
Where are all these people calling for ‘government to get out of the bedroom’ when it comes to TALK? Kill a baby—hey, none of your business. Talk? Arrest the SOB, call in the hangman, I’m afraid!
The whole sexual harassment thing is just absurd. In the guise of feminism, it is the reinforcement of the idea that ‘the little woman’ can’t handle the harsh real world outside the kitchen. It is the ULTIMATE anti-woman idea—it says women can’t handle their own sexuality and sexual interactions—which feminists tell us is the most male chauvinistic attitude of all.
Women are capable of handling anything a man can handle, but the folks whose paychecks count on dependence, on women thinking of themselves as victims, don’t really want independence at all. As we see with Cain and Justice Thomas, these folks don’t really want independent thinkers—independent thinkers don’t think the way those very folks want them to, all the time. (That’s kind of the idea of independence.) They want dependence on them—that is where control lies. You can’t control someone who doesn’t need you for something.
I like the way both of you think. Great posts!