How Could the Scandals Come as Any Surprise?

Too much has been written about the recent raft of sexual abuses by media and Hollywood luminaries. Weinstein, Lauer, Conyers, Rose, and let's not forget Bill Cosby. But most of the palavering entirely misses the main point. So I am here to make it.

At the bottom of these flagrant abuses is the concerted campaign waged over the last several decades to change how women are viewed. More than ever, women--pretty much since 1960 when the Pill came out--have been relentlessly sexualized in the media and entertainment industries. They are supposed to want sex as much as men do and Look! now they can indulge. Yes, now they can without shame admit that sexual encounters are what they are after, and, thanks to new aids in pregnancy control, they can have them freely, just as men have always done. And hey--it's no big deal, right?

In addition, we women have been preached at from all sides that to really count for something we need to get OUT of the home and hold down a paying job--like a man does. And please don't hold the door for a gal or give her your seat on the bus. How demeaning that would be! The loud-and-clear message is that our bodies may look and function a bit differently, but inside, Hans and Helga are just the same.

What was lacking in this modern scheme was the respect for women's time-honored specialties such as their talent for raising children, feeding people, nursing sick family members, hospitality, all sorts of home arts, and performing compassionate works in the community. Men largely acknowledged these abilities, understanding they were no match for women when it came to running a home, and even publicly honored and accommodated them by opening heavy doors and allowing them to sit when seats were limited. It was understood that women were human beings with real and unique gifts.

The new "liberated" view served only to indulge men's inherent selfishness (we're all selfish, of course), with women no longer applying the brakes to risky behavior but instead fully participating.

In the media, music, and movies, women's Number One gift now seems to be their physicality. Their bodies--often enhanced through surgery--are relentlessly accentuated with skimpy clothing and provocative movement. Even female news anchors on some channels must have a bombshell figure and sport tight dresses and stilettos. 

So all this sexual harassment and abuse are no wonder at all. Men are able to tell themselves that women are sexually driven too and should have no objection to their advances. Women fail to draw the line because that would make them look like a fuddy-duddy, or, when pressured by a boss, they could lose their job or promotion. 

What we are seeing is the natural result of the hyper-sexualization--and consequent dehuminization--of people. 

I imagine old Lucifer is rubbing his hands and chuckling mightily.

Follow-up to our last column:
The Satanists will NOT have a presence in Boca Raton's park this year. Some 50,000 signatures were presented to the City in protest, and during the December 1 Rosary rally in the park, the news circulated that the display would not go up this year. Word was that the middle-school teacher behind the last two years' Satanic display, just yards from the Nativity scene, had missed the deadline for his permit this time. Hallelujah.