Everything old is new again

Learned today of a woman who claims she was sexually molested because man looked at her in a way that made her uncomfortable. It seems as if Andrea Dworkin's views about men -- i.e., that just about any conduct with a man is tantamount to rape -- have gone mainstream. What struck me about this little tidbit is that a certain, not insignificant, segment in our society views all men in precisely the same way that Southerners used to view black men. After all, Emmett Till was lynched for having the temerity to say "hello" to a white woman. Now, men are accused of rape, harassment, and molestation for having the temerity to look at or flirt with a woman in a way that makes her feel uncomfortable. I don't want to excuse men who exhibit bad conduct or bad behavior. I do, however, believe that we have to draw a distinction between a leer and a rape -- and if we don't, we run the risk of backsliding into the kind of violent, divided society the Jim Crow South was. ************************* If you have the stomach for it, Andrea Dworkin's views can be seen more fully at her website.