So, your memory of that film and all those men who gathered near the trolley
car to see a flash of a feminine ankle, isn't that just natural male sexuality?
What the media are doing is just jumping on the latest scandal so their
corporate sponsors can sell their products. The latest scandal just happens to
be a lot of women pointing fingers at a lot of men for a continuum of behavior,
from rape at one end of the continuum to accidentally touching someone's bare
back at the other end. And then there are the women who are individual people
who each have their unique perception of particular acts. A man whom you know
and with whom you are in conversation, touches your back. Is that inappropriate
male sexual behavior or is it just a friendly gesture. Does the fact that he's
a man and you're a woman, make it groping? Would the same gesture be acceptable
if he were gay?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 7:55 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: inappropriate sexual behavior
Perhaps in the strictest sense it is not the mass media that is accusing the
men, but in a broader sense the mass media is able to put a spin on the growing
numbers of offended women, as well as pumping every ounce of blood for a rumor
hungry public to feast upon.
Rather than digging deep to get to the root of our problem, we prefer to simply
dig around in the dirt.
Back in the 1950's I went to a movie starring gina lollobrigida. She was
lounging by the pool. Suddenly she leapt to her feet, tossing off her robe and
exposing the skimpiest bikini I had ever had the pleasure of feasting my eyes
upon.
The exciting shock of that brief moment is still vivid in my mind some
63 years later. And as usual, whenever I bring up that lovely image, I recall
my dad telling me about the old men in Joplin, Missouri, gathering close to the
streetcar track in order to get a glimpse of the ladies ankles as they hefted
their long skirts in order to step on or off the streetcars. The attraction of
the forbidden is strong.
Many people live vicariously, safely basking in the foolishness of others,
without the danger of being caught.
And we are so caught up in our secret lusts that we never address the reasons
why such stuff draws us, like moths to the flame. And in that sense, I hold
the mass media responsible for providing an open sewer for folks to splash
about in.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/29/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Well, it's not the mass media who is accusing the men. It's the women
whom they've allegedly abused. And it's usually more than one woman.
So probably the men did what the women said they did in most cases,
unless someone has paid the women to make the accusations like a
political party or unless a woman has a grudge against a man for a
reason other than sexual abuse. So, given the probability that he ,
they, probably did what they're accused of doing, and then all their
employers fire them, then what? Does that change men's behavior toward women?
Does it change attitudes? Will rape disappear?
Will men suddenly stop making unwanted sexual advances toward women?
Will sexual harassment in the military stop? Will domestic abuse
disappear? Will date rape no longer occur?
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2017 12:35 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Cc: my blog carl jarvis <carjar82.carls@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: inappropriate sexual behavior
Can we say, "Witch Hunt"?
Of course we can!
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
Not that I am supporting pawing and groping and indecent liberties,
but don't we have an old slogan, "Innocent until proven guilty"?
Doesn't that mean guilty by a panel of our peers, in a court of law,
or by a judge or panel of judges?
As far as I am concerned, every person who crossed the line, forcing
their affections onto an unwilling subject, should be given a fair
hearing, and accept the determination handed down. But until then,
each accused person has the right, under our law, to profess innocence, and
to be so treated.
That means we do not fire people or force them to resign their jobs,
until a verdict is reached.
Shades of The Salem Witch Hunt! Are we never going to learn that
conviction by hysteria can harm as many innocent people as it convicts the
guilty?
As a People, we Americans are leaning more and more toward accepting
the Word of the Mass Media as the final measure of Innocent or Guilty.
Bad enough that we have a legal system weighted toward the Wealthy,
learning of innocent people serving long sentences, or being executed.
What we need to do is to use these times when our attention is focused
on how we determine whether a person is guilty or not, to revisit our
entire legal system. Is Justice really blind? Who does the law
protect, and who does the law punish? Why are our prisons filled with
so many persons of color? Are persons of color really inferior to us
White folk? Are the rich less crooked than the rest of us? Since our
laws seem to favor the Rich, do we have statistics proving that they
are superior to those of us less wealthy?
Why should members of congress be forced out of their jobs when
accused of improper conduct, when the President, Donald Trump, is on
video declaring that his "Star" status gives him the right to grab
women's pussy's, and pass it off for "locker room talk"? Why has he not been
removed from his job?
Are White, rich Men just made to be treated better than us lesser Beings?
Even as we focus on the offending men, the women stepping forward are
beginning to feel the hostility of the American Public. This nation
has a history of shifting the blame onto the victim, the offended woman.
When I was a boy, we learned that boys "sowed their wild oats". But
any girl who was forced into sexual relations by a young "Wild Oats
Sower" was considered "Damaged Goods" from then on. She should not
have allowed him to have his way with her. She dressed provocatively, and
was "Asking for it".
Women who did contact the police and file complaints of rape, were
treated to humiliation by officials. In fact, the woman's entire
sexual history was on trial, while the man protested that "she said
she wanted me", and he was judged on only current behavior.
We tend to see events based on our current experiences and upon our
current social conditions. The American Scene was much different 40
or 50 years ago. When a woman finally steps forward and declares that
she was pawed back in 1980, we view the act on our present
understanding, not on conditions as they existed then. The great
shame and embarrassment she would have undergone at the time most
likely kept her silent, along with the advice usually given women at
the time. But we also need to remember the world as it was for men.
In those days men were raised to believe that when a woman said, "no",
she might simply be playing "hard to get". So the man, if he's any
kind of man at all, pressed forward.
Because we have had a history of not talking about Sex, and our
responsibilities as men and women, we have a tangled mess. Sorting it
out by turning it over to the Mass Media is about as wrong a thing to
do as to hand it over to Donald Trump.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/29/17, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Every time I look at the computer, there's a new headline about
another well known man who is being fired for inappropriate sexual
behavior. Too bad Trump isn't among them. But seriously, will this
really change anything?
Maybe they should all be required to go through a rehabilitation
program with each graduating when they're cured of their addiction.
Of course, most of them have enough money so they don't need their jobs.
Maybe they should all do what Al Franken did and just meekly
apologize and keep working.
Maybe
they should be required to do volunteer work in hospital emergency rooms.
But I'm tired of the headlines and the glee of women who think that
now we've, as they put it, "turned a corner". I keep having the
feeling that all these headlines about men doing what men have always
done, are a means to distract people from the terrible changes being
wrought by the Trump administration and the Republican congress. The
media keeps saying that the congress hasn't accomplished anything
yet, that Trump hasn't accomplished anything yet. That's certainly untrue.
Miriam
