I caught a few minutes of news in the car yesterday on the way to work and heard about the Washington Post or NY Times trying to verify a story of a woman who was claiming sexual harassment and finding out it was all a big fat lie.
I woke up to a news alert on my phone about Matt Lauer being fired for inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace and a very stunned and emotional Savannah Guthrie trying to explain.
My son's have asked me lately what is up with all this stuff about sex in the news - their confused about what it is that is making news? Why is it happening so much lately?
This is all so very hard to pick apart and explain and handle when you are also a victim. I am afraid to open my mouth for fear that my own past will be what comes out, not an explanation of why this is happening.
So let me take these things one at a time -
1. To any woman who would even consider lying about sexual harassment or assault. May you be tried before a jury of your peers. Just peers. Just woman. Because to many of us have been a victim of sexual assault, harassment, molestation, or abuse and you lying about it gives men the power to question all of us. Shame on you.
2. Matt Lauer. I was impressed by Savannah Guthrie's words and composure. He was a friend and a colleague and maybe she didn't ever experience anything in this realm,so she never saw this coming. No man is exempt. Not my husband, not my son's. That is why I tell them over and over again girls are not "Hot", you don't whistle, cat call, or stare. Sex is between two people in private not in public. No means NO always. Less is more. Minds are sexy, naked is just naked.
3. Why is this happening so much lately? Well, I hope to God it isn't. I hope this is an older generation getting all of this out in the open - making strides, progress, amends. I hope that like the glass ceiling, equal rights, LGBT we are turning a new page in this chapter of humanity. We are airing out all the dirty laundry so that moving forward from here we are all kind part of the Humankind. Humans being kind. Moving forward we are all cognoscente of the Golden Rule. Treat others the way you want to be treated, no matter how they are acting. Because as Plato said "Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
We are all in this together. Be kind. Less judgmental. Remember everyday that you create the world that your children will grow old in. What do you want it to look like?
