Watch It Sister!

Finally, another tolerated double-standard now clawing its way out into the light of day. A dirty little secret we know exists in corners and pockets and copy rooms of the work place becoming exposed; sexual harassment against men at the office; or the fire house; or the factory or the dry dock or the fry station and where ever else those sins occur.

In a report buried deep within MSNBC.com, in a location only accessible by sharp-eyed, desperate bloggers searching for fodder or those desperate enough to read the site's weekly Workplace column, human resources expert Roberta Chinsky says harassment by women against men is "just as damaging." Really? You mean men can be victims too? I thought the whole Lorena Bobbitt thing chopping off her husband's penis was conducted entirely for material purposes of the late night talk shows and SNL skits. Nobody ever seemed to take it very seriously; the way men receive equal time when one goes missing. Oh, wait. Bad example, but you get the sarcasm no doubt.

This morning, between fluffy news and a report on the best dishwashers, Diane Sawyer went on and on and on.. And on about Venus Williams being the first female Wimbledon champion to receive equal prize pay to her male counterpart. That's progress I'll say and it's about time. The flush came after Diane teased her co-anchor George Stephanopoulos on not knowing how to use a dishwasher, the irony of her sexism being lost on all 40 million of Diane's viewers no doubt. All but me perhaps. What I've never heard Diane or any other TV personality mention are the seeming infinite numbers of double standards we tolerate each day. Sure, equal pay is a big deal, but when's the last time a teenage girl was told to register for the draft or face possible prison time? Have YOU heard any commercials urging parents to teach their daughters NOT to hit boys? I hear them everyday, only they're addressed to fathers, warning of some apparent instinctual urge in all males to hit females. So much so in fact, it begs national advertising. My point being that while perhaps not as traditional or prevalent as sexism against women, bias against men exists everywhere and in every circumstance it does against women, only we don't talk about it. And while I'm thinking about it, the word misogyny can be found in any dictionary and defined as 'hatred against women'. Does anyone know what the technical word for 'man hate' is? Does such a word exist in modern day Western vernacular? If so, maybe you can help me out.

I could go on to name many more but you get the point; and that's mine. We all get it, but nothing's being done about it. Except for that buried MSNBC article, but I'll take the progress in small doses.

Posted by JD on July 10, 2007 11:54 AM