My take on #metoo part 2: double edged sword

#metoo is not a movement that is bad by default. All it's intended to do is provide a safe space(shudder) for women to come out as having been sexually harassed or raped by men in power. It has brought down pretty big names in almost every place. Politicians, celebrities, comedians, Hollywood, etc. I do think that it is at least somewhat a good thing. Rape and sexual assault by men in power has been a problem for a long time. Not just for women, but children too. Especially in Hollywood. That said, #metoo is not without its faults. One of those faults is worsening the relationship between men and women. Not just in the workplace, but in dating and the personal life too. What we are seeing with #metoo is akin to McCarthyism. I'm not saying that all women coming out are liars, but they could be. Some are liars. Some have been proven liars. It's happened way too many times. A completely innocent man is accused of sexual harassment or rape, and his life is ruined for it. He loses his job, his social standing, and maybe even his freedom based on these false accusations. There are too many instances of innocent men being convicted of rape and being sent to prison, only to later find out that he was innocent and being released. A great example of this was a father that was accused of rape by his daughter. The book was thrown at him, and he was sent to prison based on next to no evidence. It took over a decade for the daughter to come back and admit that she lied about it and that he was innocent. Not that this example had to do with #metoo, but how do we live in a world where something like that can happen? Where something as serious as rape is prosecuted and believed based on nothing but word alone? That's what #metoo does. It all but forces the listen and believe mentality. It doesn't matter who is being accused, as long as it's a women doing the accusing, she's telling the truth. Evidence is completely irrelevant. All that matters is that a women accused a man of sexual assault or rape. A great example of this mentality is the recent accusations against now supreme Court justice Kavanaugh. I'll talk about my views on this one but different time. For now, suffice it to say there was little to no evidence to support any of those accusations, yet almost half the country believed they were true. Listen and believe mentality at it's finest.

Imagine how scary this situation is for a man. If you are a women reading this, just take a second and try to be empathetic towards men. Imagine you are a man in power. Maybe you're a CEO of a company, maybe you're just a district manager for burger king. Point is, you have power over women on some level. Would it not scare you that any women under you could just report you to HR for sexual harassment or assault at any time, and you'd be immediately fired? No investigation, no reasonable doubt, no innocent until proven guilty, you just lose your job by default because a women accused you of a sexual crime. This has happened before, so it's not like it's a irrational fear. Would that not scare you? This is what we are seeing. Men like that are refusing to mentor young women, work with young women, or even have lunch breaks with young women. Or even just women in general. This gets worse the longer the man has worked in that company or position. We are seeing men that have been managers for over 20 years refusing to have anything to do with female coworkers because they are afraid of losing their job that they spent decades on. This is a serious problem. Right now, it's only about 40% of men in power that have this problem, but that's still a scary big number, and it will only increase from here. #metoo is making it nigh impossible for men and women to work together.

Now how is #metoo worsening the personal relationships between men and women? Well, it's mostly in dating. Before #metoo, you could reasonably make a distinction between modern dating and online dating. Now, they are more or less synonymous. As a man, it is almost always expected that you approach women. Women don't approach men. Now that #metoo is a thing, it's becoming increasingly harder to do this in the wild without being labeled a sexual harasser. Even if this doesn't go further than that, and sometimes it does, that is a serious hit to our pride as men. Women in general do not understand how much courage it takes for us guys to approach you in the street, or at work, or in a bar, or at a store, etc. It is scary as hell because of the fear of rejection. Not only do we now have to fear just being told no, but also being branded a creep or sexual harasser just for showing interest in a pretty girl. Do some men take hitting on girls too far? Yes. Does that mean every single man that hits on a women is a creep? No. I personally have approached women a few times in public spaces, and it's usually fine. They just say whether they are or aren't interested in me, and we go about our day from there. Now, I would never in a million years do it. The very prospect of being called a sexual harasser just for going up to a girl and telling her she's pretty all but gives me a bloody panic attack. I'd imagine even for people with less anxiety about social situations, a similar fear exists. It's no longer fair to ask men to approach you in public. It's too risky for us to do so. It could literally ruin us. As a result, online dating is practically the only way to go. I should clarify that women don't like this any more that we men do. Some women like being chased in public, a large amount of them like to be approached.. Even if they aren't interested, they are flattered. Now women that used to get approached all the time barely do, and they don't like it.

Even in platonic friendships, men are now less likely to hug or touch. Men tend to touch friends a lot, but no longer with female friends, though it's always been a point of contention. The same could be said for things like mosh pits at a rock concert. Men treat women like that thing you should avoid and never touch because of the fear of sexual assault. AT A MOSH PIT, MEN ARE AFRAID TO TOUCH WOMEN.

There's not much else to say on the topic. Men have finally drawn the short stick. Men as a whole are suffering for the sins of a few, and it sucks.