There is now a seemingly endless slate of sexual harassment allegations against some of the biggest shots from Hollywood to Washington, D.C.
From the longest-serving Congressmen to the biggest star of morning television news, it seems that no one is sacrosanct.
Is it just that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”?
Or maybe it’s more broadly to be stated, as the Rabbi noted on Shabbat, that:
“G-d created man perfectly imperfect!”
Men and women are created with sexual urges to procreate, bond emotionally and physically, and enjoy each other.
Men tend to be the stronger than women and are able to have children into old age, and perhaps, it can be said, have the bigger “urge to merge.
Sure, there are women who are normally sexually active, and also those who are perhaps hypersexual (nympomaniac, “cougars,” etc.) and who commit sexual abuse too.
In fact, it was interesting that Wikipedia actually breaks rape down into 4 gender on gender categories:
– Rape of females by males
– Rape of females by females
– Rape of males by females
– Rape of males by males
Issues with physical intimacy and sexual harassment and violence span both sexes, however, it is also clear that:
“Rape affects women disproportionately, with the majority of people convicted being men.”
In the U.S., the statistics show gross levels of sexual violence to women:
– 1 in 5 women will be raped in their lifetime (vs 1 in 71 men).
– 91% of victims of rape and sexual assault are female.
Also, particularly disturbing is the number of girls and boys targeted:
– 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before age 18.
What type of society have we created, where women and children are not generally safe?
It’s interesting to me in Judaism that there is a recognition of sexual impulse, and that some Hasidim actually wear a “gartel” belt when praying to physically and spiritually separate the upper half of the body with the head and heart, from the lower half with the more animal instincts.
In short, the head and heart need to control the animal part of people.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be happening in so many cases.
Stunned from the outpouring of sexual allegations nearly everyday now, I said to my wife:
“What is wrong with these people? They have it all: position, power, and wealth; and yet, they throw it all away –including their integrity and reputations–for a five minute lay in the hay!”
Is the animal instinct too strong for the person to control? That just isn’t going to cut it.
As a functioning society, it’s got be completely unacceptable for people to act out sexually or otherwise violently hurt their neighbors.
It’s time for social reform and for the animals to be controlled by the people. 😉
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
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