It seems like the outing of the alleged sexual harassment from Harvey Weinstein towards many women has been the launch pad for women to feel empowered to speak out against the behavior. For those who have been on the publicity apology tour I wonder what they are truly apologizing for, the harassment or the fact that they were outed.
If you’re not asking for permission, then you’re left begging for forgiveness! I’m going to say they are apologizing for getting caught, cause they knew what they were doing when they did it!
Then again some say it is better to ask forgiveness than permission but in this case they would be wrong.
Bearman, I’m glad that I chose not to actively engage in political cartooning. It is really difficult these days to be objective. Too many people have forgotten that the cartoonist is not a propaganda arm for a particular ideology but rather someone who tries to just shed light on all of the folly and foolishness of political and social behavior. I’m certainly not criticizing your work in anyway, but some topics require greater perspective.
In this case there is the emotional argument about inequality in treatment and lack of respect for the individual, female.or male. But emotions never should replace law in a society based on due process. Historically, mob action has never proved to be an appropriate course. I am not sanctioning socially wrong behavior, but the social media mob mentality that condemns and destroys people without due process is both wrong and dangerous.
Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to painfully repeat them. Evil has always used misguided moral intentions to manipulate the masses to accomplish its ends. Millions were tortured and slaughtered in Europe in the 1930’s and 40’s. Men were lynched in our own country based on mob actions and hate. Mobs are ugly and in today’s society they are mostly anonymous hiding digitally behind their keyboards. Social evolution is constant but historically some paths have proven to be more than slippery slopes.
Jerry I am completely with you. While both are wrong I find it interesting that someone will put sexual harassment and rape on the same level as things like butt grabbing. I believe there is a scale but everyone wants to make every inappropriate or illegal act the same weight with as you said mob mentality. Sometimes as a cartoonist you can only shed light on one part of the argument without your message being too muddied.
Good post – I do have a problem with lumping all of them together. As you say in the comments there are different levels of this wrong. When more that a handful of victims come forward I tend to think there was something going on. Many of the cases were like that. The accused that admit a wrong doing vs. those that keep denying it should be group differently. Lastly, you list Kevin Spacey who took advantage of young men.
thx bill
Hopefully the aftermath of this will lessen its occurrence in the future.
time will tell
Yes definitely they are only sorry they got caught Bearman, no doubt not really sorry for their actual behaviour.
exactly
The ones who completely deny it are those I am more likely to believe.
The ones who admit to it I am certain to believe—yet I, too, am completely unsatisfied with their “apologies”.
I actually laughed at Weinstein’s “apology”, as posted in the New York Times—he explained how he was undergoing therapy for his “problem”, and how hard this therapy was for him.
This stuff has always been going on in Hollywood—it’s so hypocritical that men everywhere outside of Hollywood are accused, when more sexual improprieties are committed in Hollywood than anywhere else in America. This stuff has been going on in Hollywood since it was Hollywoodland—Hollywood is notorious for its “casting couch”.
What’s especially hypocritical is that Weinstein’s brother finally booted him out, even though we can be sure his brother was doing the same kind of stuff—especially because he let Harvey get away with it for so long.
Powerful men with no scruples are not only found in politics or sports—they’re also found in entertainment, especially in Hollywood. Hollywood has always been a notoriously amoral place—a dream factory for us on the outside, but a nightmare factory for so many of those on the inside.
We must always hold the political left and the political right to the same standards—“fair play seeks what is right—not who is right.”
Great post