Will it ever stop?
As I stated last week, CBS fired Charlie Rose for sexual misconduct. Today (pun intended), it's Matt Lauer at NBC. Who at ABC will get the ax next week? PBS? Fox? (Not talking Fox News)
Seriously, at the rate this is happening, will no one over 40 and in the public eye, be safe from scrutiny?
Remember the movie Disclosure ? Where are the men who have been harassed?
Meatloaf came out with a great song, Where The Rubber Meets The Road:
"Somewhere some girl is crazy and some boy's half out of his head
Somewhere somebody's fearless and someone won't wind up dead.
Somewhere two hearts are pounding and they don't care what's correct
Somewhere somebody's falling in love w/o a background check...
Son, I'm Mr. PC believe you and me I'm the ultimate king of correct
And if you wanna make you gotta make her take it as a sign of your deep respect.
If you're gonna do it, you gotta see through it to the heavenly trust that it is
Then you can call her a slut and you can call her a slave if you remember to call her MS...
Where the rubber meets the road; welcome to protection mode
Used to be sex was a fine hello, now the rubber meets the road.
You say "Girl, you're a beauty" but I'm no beast, I got a little contract right here
See, you can slam on the brakes anytime you got the stick, even if we're in fourth gear.
Cop in the front seat, lawyer in the back seat, gettin' it on videotape
Got a shrink in the bed, Lord, sittin' on the headboard, swearing that we both got raped.
Where the rubber meets the road..."
Don't get me wrong; I honestly believe harassment exists. But sometimes it's taken waaaaaaaayyyyy out of context.
A recent FB post asks, "What's the difference between sexual harassment and teasing? Answer: How handsome the accused is!" (or something like that; cannot find post now)
When I was 13, I was the object of several boys' ridicule, for whatever reason. I blamed myself, since I was just learning to flirt, and in retrospect, the attention I received scared me, and I didn't know how to handle it. Instead of speaking up, I buried myself behind the thickest mask/wall/whatever you want to call it, and prayed it would blow over.
It didn't. Not until the stress got too much and I really became the object of ridicule for another reason. Did I speak up then? No. I just wanted everything to stop. Rewind. In my mind, I'd caused it, so I deserved it.
Fast-forward twenty-five years.
I was married with two kids, and working a temporary part-time job while the spouse was laid off. A stupid rumor began circulating; the other person and I decided to have fun with it; we knew it wasn't true. Our manager was in on the joke, and the three of us teased back and forth.
Another co-worker took offense, and told me I was being harassed, because of some of the things my manager was asking me. I wasn't offended in the least; we were only kidding back and forth. I was 25 years older and could hold my own by now.
Was it sexual harassment? I don't think so, but later that manager was threatened by the other coworker; she would hire a lawyer unless he backed off. She later left that work place, so I have no idea if she ever followed through. And no, that particular manager was NOT what I would call 'good-looking', but he and I got along well.
Is This Part Of A Master Plan?
Someone on FB just wondered if this was a ploy to get rid of everyone over 40 and to replace everyone in the media with 'young liberals'....ei-yi-yi....I sincerely hope NOT!
Anyway, I need to get off my soapbox again and start my day. I get the feeling this issue is going to be around for a while; I don't remember how long the bruha lasted back in '91, though Disclosure brought it back briefly in '94. Think the OJ scandal pushed it to the back burner.
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