Why Do People Harass?
You may have recently noticed a scientific study that has been making its rounds in the world, which is a psychological study that has argued successfully that men are single and lonely in our modern societies. The experiment concluded that men are struggling to meet and keep women in their lives nowadays because so much of our culture is coming together to force men to be decent people, good communicators and emotionally available human beings in order to find themselves in a romantic relationship. Here is the rub though: no generation of men until this recent generation has been required to be nice to a woman in order to enjoy her companionship, and thus, previous generations of men are unable to assist this current generation, which is hell bent on retaining those antiquated rules instead of simply evolving with the times.
This is why sexual harassment is so egregious in our modern society. It represents a regressive move towards a white supremacist patriarchal world that reifies men, where ancient societies often had much more diversity with regard to which gender (or genders) had access to power. If your nation has been colonized by Europeans, there is a strong possibility that the sexual harassment culture in your society was exacerbated by their presence, as they destabilized existing structures that sought to empower women in some ways. In other ways, the advent of Western thought provided new found privileges for some women, but ultimately, the struggle to retain that power was fraught as the world has continued to regress in this manner in the last several decades.
Stop Harassing Others!
Sexual harassment is thus endemic to many societies and yet, we are stuck in problematic spaces where we ought to learn more about how best to combat this issue. Let me give you an example of this type of sexual harassment training that you likely already do in your society, as it purports to exist all over the world: policing your daughters. Have you ever sat down with your son and had a conversation with him about sexual assault and harassment? Have you ever had a detailed conversation with your son, instructing him to never sexually harass, sexually assault, or molest anyone in any way? What is the likelihood that your brother or father was explicitly taught to respect women’s bodies, with a very specific and pointed conversation about rape and other forms of violent assault?
I am assuming the answer is no, because I already know that more time was likely spent with your daughters, sisters, wives and mothers. In society, we spend a lot of time policing women and instructing women to not get sexually assaulted, harassed and raped instead of asking men to not sexually assault, harass and rape people. We are more willing to bully, harass and hurt women into hating themselves, hiding themselves, covering themselves and making themselves smaller in the face of potentially harmful and dangerous reactions from men, who are often raised to think that their sexual desires are more important than a woman’s need to feel safe. In fact, when you address this topic with men, they are often more inclined to point out that their feelings are hurt by your revelations, as opposed to actually wishing to correct the behavior that has alienated, scared and emotionally scarred the women in their lives.
Towards A Better Future
Men are learning to be nice people, but it is going to take a lot of time, therefore in the meantime, it is imperative that we as members of humanity, not just here in the United States of America, but everywhere, focus on advancing our ways and means of addressing the issue of toxicity in the culture of males in our societies. In some places and spaces, women will also need this type of sexual harassment (https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/social-science/law/concepts/sexual-harassment) training as well. There are women who, as soon as they acquire some power, become intoxicated with their proximity to maleness (and in some cases, whiteness via intersectionality) that they immediately seize upon the chance to abuse other women with glee. If you ask most women, they have probably dealt with sexual harassment from mostly men but emotional harassment from other women, and thus, they might argue that the patriarchal structure that encourages this type of behavior is one we are all in danger of.
You must understand that sexual harassment, though endemic and international, does not have to be mimicked by anyone just because it seems that this type of behavior is what the herd is doing. You can go your own way, be better, and respect others by simply giving them the grace and space to accept that your body is yours and their body is theirs. You have no right to anyone else’s body and thus, you should never sexually harass others.
