My personal contention is that while the MeToo movement is a provocative, pertinent force, it’s parameters must be protected in order for it to have longstanding legitimacy. I propose that degrees of impropriety or criminality be carefully considered and weighted. The rape of an infant and consensual relations between a 17 year old and a 21 year old should not be punishable proportionately. Similarly, conflating Biden’s penchant for physical affection (and by extension fuzzy boundaries) with the monstrosities committed by the Weinsteins, Spaceys, Cosbys and Kellys only ultimately serves to undermine MeToo. While the former was guilty of well documented public displays
of affection, the latter coterie were imputed of insidious
sexual crimes that were plotted surreptitiously. These were acts of deviancy that were done in the dark. Degrees of anything do matter, and one thing is not the same thing as another thing. I shudder at the thought of a society where we are increasingly incarcerated by our collective angst of being out of line, of being off kilter, where we aren’t free to express anachronistic affection. A humanity that is hug-free would be decidedly a dystopian existence. Where threats of Artificial Intelligence invasions no longer appear a conspiracy theory. Because we have become bloodless bot-like beings. Rather, let’s appeal to our better angels. And decide not to discard the sacred child with the stale tub water.
My missive isn’t in any way intended to be dismissive of these women and their particular experiences, these women who, not arguably, but justifiably, felt violated. How proud I am to be a part of this present history where women are empowered to protect their personal spaces. And yet, I’m not certain that having this dialogue the way they are, is the precise way to have it. Conversations about incivility, impropriety and injustice should always be had, but there’s invariably a way and a space to hash those out effectively, substantively, firmly, but still with empathy.