Today CNN broke a story about sexual misconduct allegations regarding Morgan Freemam. MORGAN FREEMAN! Yes, Mr. Driving Ms. Daisy; Mr. First Black President; Mandelaaaaa; god! That Morgan Freeman. Is nothing real anymore?
The fact is I was shocked but not surprised. This trend of sexual predators being exposed is starting to look like steroid users in baseball. The actual number of dudes I could list that I'd be genuinely surprised at being accused of sexual misconduct is pretty damn miniscule. It really is. I was genuinely surprised that Catfish's Nev Schulman was accused. But, at this point should I be. I'll note that if it turns out to be false I won't be surprised. The story is shaky.
But, for Morgan Freeman I can't say the same. I read the story thoroughly. Multiple women went on record describing what he did. Some called it "inappropriate behavior"; others called it sexual assault and/or misconduct. The story had 16...SIXTEEN sources who confirmed the accusers accounts either in part or in full. One of the victim accounts was by a CNN reporter who has part of the incident on video. And, the real clincher for me was from Freeman himself. He gave a statement-not of denial- but the 'ol "If I did anything to offend or make anyone feel uncomfortable...". That is damn near a confession. Why, Mandela, why? 😡
But, as with Bill Cosby; Harvey Weinstein; Matt Lauer; Charlie Rose; ect, the excusing and moralizing was almost instantaneous. The half-assed victim blaming began.
Here we are in the crux of the #MeToo movement and an alleged enlightening of men about their attitude toward women and I hear some of the most inane ignorant ass shit possible! I literally had said to me today, "Why are they coming out now?" (An oldie but still moronic goodie) I replied some of these accounts are within the last three years. Next question, "Why didn't they do something or say something then?" (Ya know low-key victim blaming.) I said, "Oh, I don't know...because it was freakin Morgan Freeman and they were afraid of their careers being ruined!" Then I heard, "Some of these claims are just about nothing. It's not like they got raped." Uh-huh. Real convo. Then the minimizing of #MeToo accounts began with the, "A lot of these women's stories are 'he told me a dirty joke' or 'he brushed up against me'." I then had to drop a little knowledge, "Most of these claims are more than dirty jokes. Sure, some of these accusations are incidents blown way out of proportion. But, the vast majority are credible with contemporaneous accounts. And, brushing up against someone to cop feel without their consent is sexual assault. 😒" The response to that was the classic apologist go-to. "Well, they'll have to go after every man to ever be in the workforce. Because man has been doing that since the beginning of work. And, every man has inappropriately touched a woman or groped her." I said, "Well, men have been sexually harassing women since the beginning of time. Also, not every man has sexually harassed woman. It's actually very easy not to do. A lot of men have never groped a woman or try to lift up their skirt or put their hand down their shirt."
What kills me about this type of attitude is the total lack of awareness and the fact it's still pervasive. It is an archaic attitude but is one held by many men and women! It is astounding to me that rape culture is still rampant in this country.
How ridiculous is it for someone to still believe it's ok for "boys to be boys". OMG! It is not ok! How about we teach our boys to properly respect women and our "big boys" to be FUCKING MEN! How about dah! How about men and boys stop thinking women's main role in life is to be there for their pleasure. How about we as men stop thinking women's asses, boobs and vaginas are ok to grope and grab without consent! How about we quit bullshittin about we don't know what is ok and what isn't. Quit mudding the waters. A glance at a woman because you think she's attractive is infinitely different from glaring at her. Respectfully telling a woman, "You look nice today", is a far cry from, "Dayummmm! Look at the tits on you! I'd like to see what that ass looks like bent over. Come sit on my face, Honey!" I mean fucking really we don't know the difference! Seriously, if you don't know the difference, you're a hopeless dumbass! Sorry. Not sorry!
Respecting women, respecting their space isn't that hard. Hell, it's not hard at all. Knowing what's consent or approval to do something and what is not isn't really that taxing to decipher.
People have to quit being apologists for behavior that is clearly wrong. Just because "it's always happened" means it's right or should continue. There are a lot of things that have "always happened" in our society that should stop. I find it disappointing and frankly disgusting that people have to be told sexual harassment/assault is wrong and should never be excused.
Be better!
