Today another extract from Transgression seems appropriate in view of recent allegations concerning MPs and the young women who work in Westminster.
During the 1987 general election in Britain a woman comes to a local journalist in the constituency of a Conservative MP seeking re-election. This extract has been edited to fit the space but contains her allegations and his response.
I had no ‘inside knowledge’ to inform this imagined scene. However, I had often enough witnessed the way some men – too many, in fact – behaved towards women in the workplace and it seemed to me when I wrote the scene, and still does, that Westminster would be little different from any other office or workshop.
The question that remains is this: at what point does flirting spill over into unacceptable behaviour? Is any kind of flirting acceptable? What do you think?
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Quote: “The question that remains is this: at what point does flirting spill over into unacceptable behaviour? Is any kind of flirting acceptable? What do you think?”
To stay strictly within the context of the question, the first thing needed is clarification of what is meant by “flirting.” Going out on a limb here, the female body is to any normal male, a sex organ. It doesn’t matter how it is covered, or disguised, the fact remains that males are always attracted to the female form. By the same token, the female is always “aware” of male attention and generally speaking, in the normal course of things, doesn’t mind it at all, in fact usually enjoys it even when protesting to the contrary. I read a comment long ago that “Earthians” as a sexually immature and repressed species. I totally agree with that view. So back to flirting… a woman “flirts” just by being a woman. A man responds simply because he is a man. Interesting to note that civilization and its many taboos on sexuality greatly increase incidences of inappropriate behaviour that often leads to forced intercourse (rape) and misogyny. In my opinion more freedom in expressing sexuality, particularly for the young, would go a long way to resolve the problem. Rather than try to hide (results: shame, guilt, blame, repression, anger, rejection, violence), why not follow nature’s leading and simply go naked whenever/wherever clothes are weatherwise, work-wise, optional, see where that takes us? One small step for wo-man, one great leap for the species!
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Thank you Sha’Tara. My sentiments exactly! When and why did women decide that instinctive behaviour is ‘inappropriate’ or ‘unacceptable’? We’ve gone from the Victorian prudery that still prevailed in my youth, through anything goes permissiveness and back to a new kind of over protectiveness, especially towards the young. Religion used to be the source of sexual suppression. I’m not sure what’s behind this current obsession, I don’t think it’s feminism. Sensitivity to the feelings of others can go too far.
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“Obsession” – indeed: the perfect description. I don’t think it has to do specifically with any overt cause, but somewhere under all this, including political correctness, I suspect, is evolving a nefarious agenda of mind control based on the spread of fear, distrust, and hatred. Who benefits (or will benefit) from this, we can but speculate ’til the cows come home, or until some “monster” appears and places itself in a central position of authoritarian and dictatorial power like the Catholic church once did.
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Any kind of sexual harassment is wrong and should be reported straight away. This morning on the radio I heard that a female MP has just reported a male colleague for a lewd remark he made to her about 4 years ago. Why didn’t she report it then? Why wait 4 years?
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The standard answer to that question seems to be that they did not think they’d be believed should the man deny it. The other issue with MPs is that there is no ‘higher authority’ to which one can appeal. The whips are supposed to deal with such stuff but are ill equipped to do so. There are no sanctions they can apply. The best way to deal with such things is to tell the perpetrator that you find his behaviour unacceptable – but, again, you risk earning a reputation as a ‘stuck up cow’. In a male dominated environment that is more damaging than his reputation as a misogynist would be.
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Reblogged this on Stevie Turner, Indie Author. and commented:
Good one here from Frank Parker.
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