What’s on my mind? Uncle Joe.
Joe Biden says he’s sorry he kissed the girls and made them cry. Try saying it like you mean it, Joe!
Joe Biden says he’s sorry he kissed the girls and made them cry. Try saying it like you mean it, Joe!
Don’t get me wrong. I like the former US vice-president. I like him a lot. He’s a good man, and a smart one. But even good men can do bad, dumb things.
Unwelcome and unwanted touching and kissing is never a good or smart thing to do. It’s called “inappropriate” - as well it should be. The best time to call out inappropriate behavior is when it happens.
I know that’s not always possible, but nor am I a fan of calling a press conference to express my unhappiness that someone pecked my cheek or briefly held my hand - particularly if that someone is a potential political candidate, the complainant hails from the opposition, and the timing is suspect.
It would be grossly unfair to either party to try to generalize, trivialize, or exaggerate such interactions. What may scar one person for life, another will shrug off.
This is a genderized minefield: Even the most innocent behavior can now be misconstrued. Becoming a social pariah does not always fit the alleged “crime.”
At its best, #metoo reins in our worst impulses to make us better people. At its worst, #metoo is like getting a loan from the mob. No matter how much you pay, you’ll never pay it off. The debt’s permanently on the books; the threats will never cease.
I don’t think Joe’s a dirty old man. Not at all. But I do think he’s been misreading social cues for a very long time. In this #metoo age, it’s easy to misinterpret another person’s intent.
I know that’s not always possible, but nor am I a fan of calling a press conference to express my unhappiness that someone pecked my cheek or briefly held my hand - particularly if that someone is a potential political candidate, the complainant hails from the opposition, and the timing is suspect.
It would be grossly unfair to either party to try to generalize, trivialize, or exaggerate such interactions. What may scar one person for life, another will shrug off.
This is a genderized minefield: Even the most innocent behavior can now be misconstrued. Becoming a social pariah does not always fit the alleged “crime.”
At its best, #metoo reins in our worst impulses to make us better people. At its worst, #metoo is like getting a loan from the mob. No matter how much you pay, you’ll never pay it off. The debt’s permanently on the books; the threats will never cease.
I don’t think Joe’s a dirty old man. Not at all. But I do think he’s been misreading social cues for a very long time. In this #metoo age, it’s easy to misinterpret another person’s intent.
Flip the card over: I’ve done it myself. And have later felt hugely embarrassed for having “done” whatever forgotten thing it was I did.
My late husband was a kind and intelligent man. Many years ago, he opened a door for a female colleague as the polite thing to do. Her response was to whirl about and snap: “Male chauvinist pig!” Should women who expect equality forego the “inequality” of sex-based courtesy?
I try my best to be a kind and intelligent woman. Yesterday, while entering an otherwise-empty elevator at the same time as a stranger, he virtually elbowed me aside to barge ahead.
With still only two of us in the elevator, we exited on the same floor. Without the slightest nod to me, he again barged ahead. I thought he was rude. Am I wrong?
It’s an ever-changing world. Keeping up with the rules is sometimes very difficult. I repeat: Should “equality” negate nicety? Because, under #metoo, I haven’t the slightest frickin’ idea.
© Nicole Parton, 2019
