Harvey Weinstein has opened a very large can of worms. In his particular case, they sound like very nasty worms!
However, the whole subject of male 'wooing' has now been brought into question. A man can be arrested for whistling at a girl, he can also be arrested for making 'suggestive' comments. Pinching a girl's bottom (once so popular amongst Italian men), would now have most of Italy's (UK resident) adult male population behind bars.
However, I do notice that a recent Christmas TV advert for a Jean-Paul Gaultier perfume, showing a girl feeling a sailor's backside, has met with no complaints.
The can of worms is growing by the minute. When scantily clad girls strut down the High Street, shouting "We're on the pull", they are seen as being 'cheeky', but if an all male gang was to do the same, they'd soon be 'spoken-to' by PC Plod.
Soon no man will be able to approach a girl without first having signed a pre-date agreement. No flattery will be allowed, and certainly no holding of hands. Before that 'first kiss', lawyers will need to be consulted, and lengthy contracts drawn-up.
Could this be the start of all male, and all female communities, that never meet?
After the freedom of the 60's, we may now be at the start of a new regressive sexual revolution; reverting to strict Victorian values. With a huge Asian population living in the UK, maybe 'arranged marriages' will soon also become popular.
Dave Allen said it best: 'If my female neighbour is sunbathing in her garden in the nude and I happen to glance out of my bedroom window and see her, I can be arrested for being a peeping tom. However, if I decide to sunbath in the nude in my garden and my female neighbour happens to look out of her bedroom window and see me, I can be arrested for indecent exposure'.
ReplyDeleteDave allen was right; and so succinctly put.
DeleteLike so many other things, measures introduced to combat a form of abuse have gone to ridiculous extremes, affecting normal and acceptable behaviour. Yet the worst abusers still abuse.
ReplyDeleteWomen still suffer verbal and physical assault from men who know how to manipulate a situation so they can get away with it.
I suppose they do; I don't know. I don't move in such circles.
DeleteThere would have to be at least 3 separate communities...male , female ,transgender, etc etc !!
ReplyDeleteGod, I hope I won't be in trouble for missing-out the 'trans'.
DeleteYou could be in deep mire in Deutschland. There a law was recently passed to say there are 3 officially recognized genders.
DeleteI think we are going backwards. We are indeed returning to Victorian values and it worries me. It was an era that appeared to venerate respectability but as we all know, it was a shallow veneer that thinly veiled massive sexual exploitation of the vulnerable and the young. I see that returning. I preferred the openness of the so called sexual revolution.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it was as open a 'revolution' as people suggest. However, to now go backwards seems repressive.
DeleteYou make some good and certainly valid points here Cro.
ReplyDeleteA bit tongue in cheek, but the ways things are going, you never know!
DeleteI see Catherine Deneuve is countering some of the arguments as well. Must admit film stars dressed up in their best black dresses, didn't actually address the argument adequately either.
ReplyDeleteI did notice that many of the 'black dresses' were very revealing and sexy.
DeleteI understand and appreciate your point but this is so serious for both those who think they are victims and those who are accused. Here a complimentary wolf whistle went on to become lewd remarks, sometimes negative. Before reading this I have pulled my post for tomorrow about the matter. It really needs a good rewrite. There is another post I have nearly finished about a similar subject between gay men in the workplace. The worst outcome of this whole sorry worldwide business is that a bloke can't even indicate an interest in a hot sheila. I don't think anyone wants that, least of all women.
ReplyDeleteIt's become an unfortunate bandwagon, and one doesn't know who's next to be accused. I've even been contemplating my own past!
DeleteMany men will be, and that is not a bad thing. For straight men, they should ask themselves did they try to excise power over a woman for sexual attention? Did they behave like a decent person? If the former doesn't let you off the hook Cro, and I am sure it does, I expect the latter will.
DeleteThe legislation being contemplated (passed?) in France is absurd and seems designed to make a mockery of genuine assault and harassment cases. And, by the way, American men are terrible at flirting!
ReplyDeleteThere is so much change in the air, worldwide, that I can hardly keep up with it all.
DeleteNot sure where this movement is going but something must be done about the disparity in pay between men and woman and no one should be subjected to sexual abuse in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone would agree with you there, although goodness knows how they'll sort out the equality of salaries; no two jobs are really alike.
DeleteRe the photograph that you used, my late mother (b. 1915) would have said that the girl wanted her bottom smacked for going out dressed like that. I think that is three current conventions that she would have contravened.
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to know what it is she's wearing. Swimming suit maybe?
DeleteIsn't that the Islamic male answer? They are driven to lust by the sight of female flesh? If it is white woman, they are fair game as it is clear they are easy by what they wear.
DeleteAn interesting post Cro, and I must say that you make some very valid points.
ReplyDelete