BBC 2’s The Mash Report has a funny take on how to not sexually harass people and whether you’re a man or a woman this should make you laugh. On the plus side it allows you to have a good and hearty laugh at what’s happened since the Weinstein scandal broke out and created a wildfire the world over in terms of what defines sexual harassment and what is and isn’t okay when it comes to approaching a woman. A WOMAN, note that very quickly that we will likely always talk about women and what’s okay when it comes to sexual harassment, because it seems to be the hottest topic of the day. Men who are sexually harassed are typically told to suck it up and move on, as they are MEN and not allowed to tell about when they were harassed or how it made them feel. Those times are changing of course but it’s going far slower since the focus at this point is of course on how women are to be treated by men.
The host of The Mash Report have a very good idea when it comes to harassing a woman or being a gentleman, do the latter without being tempted to do the former. It’s the kind of basic stuff that your parents should be teaching you as a young boy but somehow those lessons seem to slip or where never taught in the first place to some men. Or perhaps we’ll use the excuse that once they reach a position of power people just let them do it, you know, they LET them do it. Hmm, does that sound familiar?
Anyway, it’s a good round of laughs as the pair poke fun at what should be obvious to pretty much everyone and is still a problem in Hollywood and pretty much everywhere as of a few years ago. Sexual harassment isn’t a good thing of course but the line between what is and isn’t considered harassment seems to have been muddied a time or two or three or, well, you know, in the last several years. Now a lot of men are wondering just what to do when they meet a woman or even greet a woman they’ve known for a while. Do you hug them? Do you just wave and say hello? Do you ask for permission to speak to them and sign a form in triplicate stating that you are a safe person and can provide multiple character references alluding to this? Really, the idea of just where to draw the line is leaving some men nervous as to whether they can even make eye contact with a woman without their character being called into question.
That might seem a little melodramatic but honestly it’s not as much as you would think. Women needing and wanting equality in how they’re treated in society is a must, but demanding that men walk on their tiptoes for fear of angering them in some unknown manner is taking things just a little too far.
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