Moment of Madness.

[Stu]

I was perusing the GCSE syllabus for 15/16 year olds in the UK and one of the subjects covered is "gender politics" and, within that, they talk about the "objectification of women" which some feminists complain about by heterosexual men who dare to look at them. Yes - looking at them - and it talks about how men should be "taught" to not look at women and even be punished if they do. Apparently, this is an issue being taught to public sector employees in the State of Victoria, Australia. Be careful how you look at a woman because that could be harassment!

This reminded me of an occasion when I was stranded in London in the small hours waiting for the first morning train from King's Cross Station. I had been to a party and I was with an older man who had been to the same party, but who was the worse for wear having consumed more booze than I had. While we had been to the same party, we barely knew each other but we passed the hours discussing all manner of stuff and he made some disclosures to me that he perhaps wouldn't have made if he'd been fully sober.

He is a civil engineer and he was telling me about working on a project to build a new indoor market area for a town, when he had an appointment with the (female) architect. He said when he saw her, she was stunningly attractive, elegant and intelligent, with a genuine charisma. They got on brilliantly for several days working on the "project". One day, however, he had what he called a "moment of madness" - he touched her on the hip and backside in a way that was completely inappropriate. It was without doubt a sexual assault. She immediately looked him in the eyes and said: "What the hell are you doing?" Instantly, he realised he had behaved shamefully and apologised, and she acknowledged that and returned to talking about the project as if nothing had happened. A while later, he saw her alone and asked to speak to her about the "regrettable incident" and he wanted to apologise again. She told him she'd forgotten all about it and moved on and it wouldn't spoil their working relationship. Nevertheless, he lost sleep that night feeling profoundly ashamed and was worried what she would think of him. The next morning, he waited for her to arrive at work and he met her as she was getting out of her car. He told her yet again how sorry he was, how this was totally out of character for him, and how he couldn't forgive himself. She them punched him in the face fairly hard. As he recovered, she held out her hand for him to shake, which he did. She then said something like: "OK, you assaulted me yesterday and I just assaulted you, so we are evens. Now for Christ's sake forget about it and move on!" They worked together after that and became genuine friends. He said that it was the only time in his life that a punch in the face actually made him feel better.

This episode came to my mind when I read about the GCSE syllabus and a contrast occurred to me. A weak-minded woman in Australia would complain to the authorities about being looked at, while a smart, professional woman deals with an assault like an assertive and independent adult.

[Fred in Skirts]

Never try to figure out a woman, It will only put you in the nut house in a straight jacket!!!

Women be crazy man!!!!

[moonshadow]

Well, I've always heard that "if your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away"....

This is nothing new under the sun.

[crfriend]

There is something to be said for a good sharp shock to the head to drive a point home. There are some things one just does not do.