According to men, the sex of personal responsibility is the female of the species. Men simply cannot be trusted to control their instincts and impulses.

Not all men, you say? Sure, not all men, but according to men, too damned many.

There’s been a #MeToo “hashtag” of late intended for people of all genders to bring attention to sexual harassment/assault/rape, to the prevalence of this abuse in our society. It’s often being used for people to break the silence about their own sexual abuse, and it’s wonderful to see so many former victims stepping bravely out of the shadows to share their stories and begin the healing.

The strange thing is this was brought on by stories of Weinstein’s abuses getting out. It didn’t start when the future Pussy-Grabber-In-Chief was outed (yet again) for bragging about sexually assaulting women. We already knew Trump had had multiple credible accusations of rape including one from a 13-year-old. He didn’t even bother to deny being a sexual predator, and he’d boasted of abusing his position, of using it to assault people and to leer at young women (some children) at his beauty pageants, of grabbing and kissing women against their will. Not sure why this hashtag didn’t go around before this serial sexual abuser got elected as President of the United States. The thought of him still makes me cringe. Literally.

Along with the #MeToo hashtag came men whining about the way the issue was being handled, the way people were calling attention to the problem. The whole thing was inconvenient for them. They don’t like the way women are speaking up. Waaaah. Then there were the men defending the most deplorable behaviors with posts like the one at the top of this story. (Link)

“These millions of #MeToo women blaming men still don’t get it. A woman should never be in the company of a man without a chaperone.” – @GennethKrant

We’ll leave, for the moment, the OMFG-Are-You-Kidding-Me of this ridiculous statement and address a relatively simple and practical consideration. Who can afford all these chaperones who have to accompany all these women? Obviously, the chaperones have to be women because like our guy here says, “a woman should never be in the company of a man without a chaperone.” These female chaperones are, therefore, doing a job that needs to pay enough for them to contribute to their own households, pay for day care, etc.

I sure hope this isn’t the argument for why women must always stay home with children, because chaperones are simply too costly for women going out in public to be feasible.

Now back to the OMFG-Are-You-Kidding-Me of this idea that women must always have a chaperone. What about personal responsibility? Why can’t men control themselves? Why is it a woman’s fault if a shitty, pathetic man forces something upon her that she does not want? What are you men claiming is inherently WRONG with you that you cannot NOT harass/assault/rape women unless someone else is there to keep you from it?

The problem isn’t women. We have remarkable control even with shitty men who tell us what we can and cannot do (fuck them), how we can dress/act (fuck them, too), when/how we can speak (also fuck them). And we have remarkable control when it comes to not reminding these shitty men (often) just how shitty they are. In American society, we don’t blame the victims of crime; we punish the perpetrators (okay, that is an issue, too, but work with me here). The problem is lack of personal responsibility for the consequences of our actions:

MEN: stop making excuses for your own shitty behavior. Stop making excuses for other men’s shitty behavior. Call men on it every single time you see/hear it. Don’t be friends with shitty/abusive people. Don’t be shitty/abusive. Take responsibility for your own actions. If you cannot be trusted to behave like a responsible human being around other human beings, take the initiative to lock yourself up. You’re a danger to us all. – Thank you.

Link: Don’t Rape – by E. Brooks of Gray Matters

#AccordingToMen #MeToo