D'ya think the #METOO movement has "legs", will last and change anything? What makes you think it isn't just a fad? Why do I ask?

I have a 3 year old Granddaughter and I believe that by the time she enters  the work force it will be free of sexual harassment and predators  and my Granddaughter will have the #METOO movement to thank.  Plus my Granddaughter will always have Plan B to fall back on which will be her Jamaican Maroon  style martial arts skills. Cheers! This post was edited by Nanoose at October 4, 2018 4:43 AM MDT

I think life must become very boring Rosie if there is nothing you can't buy....Once you've done it all so many times ,only the far extreames are then left to explore ....and then ,the more bizarre things become ,the  greater the hit and from then on addiction....:( 

It's my opinion that this movement, like many other movements before it, will eventually get too big for itself and die out.

Sadly, 99% of women have been sexually harassed (by someone) at some time in their lives.  Bringing every man (or woman) who did this to justice is impossible (yes, women can be harassers as well, but we kind of gloss over that).  Thinking that some movement will completely stop sexual harassment is foolhardy.  Sure, it might help for a bit; perhaps some will even be held accountable for their crimes, (of course it's also possible that some innocent people may be falsely accused; but again, we kind of gloss over that).  The sad truth is that the problem of sexual harassment (along with many other injustices) will never simply "go away".  

You can point out error all you want, but getting all people to change is (next to) impossible (you cannot change another person).  Attending all the sexual harassment classes in the world won't change a person.  Now, if people (truly) loved other people (as in putting them ahead of their own selfish desires) the problem (along with many others) would vanish.  I mean, you won't (intentionally) hurt someone you truly love, would you?   You wouldn't sexually harass them; you wouldn't rape them; you wouldn't abuse them; you wouldn't treat them like a second class citizen; you wouldn't want them to fail.  No, you'd treat them like you'd want to be treated; you'd be compassionate towards them; you'd want them to succeed  Unfortunately, many people lean towards being self-centered (me, me, me).  Where self dominates, love cannot thrive.  Without love there is hatred, jealousy, anger, prejudice, violence, rape, murder, ...

People should NEVER abuse others (women or men) - period.  Unfortunately they do.  While this movement might have good intentions, people tend to abuse good things and use them for their own personal agendas (jealousy, power, hatred, money, etc.).   This movement has too many ways it can be exploited.  We should be able to believe every woman who comes forward (after all, why shouldn't we?)  It's extremely hard for someone to come forward with this.   But sadly, some may lie simply to pursue their personal agenda (another case where 1 person ruins something for everyone).  That's what I see eventually happening to this movement.

I must take issue with such an offensive post.  I could flag it but I know that the powers that be here will let it stand.  So I will comment upon it. 

When we talk about "equality" between men and women what it really is is a dynamic equality. Which means that though we are not entirely the same (though we are mostly) each of us is not complete without the other.  So we would not exist without men and they would not without us!  So we must depend upon one another and we naturally balance the strengths and weaknesses of one another.  In a smaller sense as well as a larger.  We have different energies and different tendencies.  And we seek often  different things in different ways.  This is how it was meant to be - how God created us.  Also why we are, almost whatever, very interested in one another. Now we can say that what is most important in the world is going out and accomplishing great things and all else like making a home or cleaning or cooking or laundering or raising kids is less important.  But that would not be so.  What we do in terms of our families and communities and just as or more important than getting your picture on the cover of a popular national magazine.  Too bad that many have not found what most women do very naturally as worthy of much praise and interest as what a lot of men have traditionally done.  Now when we do the same or similar things we can bring different energies and insights into it as long as we are free to be ourselves and do not use what we are doing to just work out on others. 

Men are capable of many marvelous things that we could learn to do and sometimes we do but mostly not.  The same with what we are very naturally capable of . Men have and will always use what they have to get what they want.  Just as we will always do the same.  I think why fight with one another rather than just enjoy what we each have to offer?  It seems to me we are not meant to fight but rather to work together in full enjoyment of one another.  Yes I am idealistic  but I have always very much appreciated men and they have been much faster than other women to congratulate or encourage me or show me how something is done.  Which does not mean that men are going to be perfect in everything or complete gentlemen. Nor are we either!

Now I have been reading your questions and comments for almost 9 years and I think you have a problem with wealth.  Or at least wealthy men. You forget that many of us are wealthy as well! No question wealth opens doors - it always has and that is just the way of the world.  And I am sure I don't have to remind you that wealthy men are often pursued by any number of women for our own reasons whatever they may be but which often comes down to security.  Some men as well as women will always be willing to have bigger dreams, work harder for them, make whatever sacrifices necessary to realize them and many of them will do well and become wealthy.  That is a fact of life.  Some will inherit wealth through family and go through it completely wasting it while others will take it and use it to help themselves go on and do significant things. 

Now I cannot hate men because they are interested in me and being with me.  Or consider that they are in any way "repulsive sexually perverted human beings" for that.  Many of us value and even come to depend on for our own well-being the interest men have in us.  All of us, men or women, have our own personal agendas and hopefully they do not cause hurt to other but sometimes they do either directly or indirectly.  Just as they can help others as well directly or indirectly. 

Some men will use their superior strength or powers of reason, salesmanship, personality, money or whatever other advantages they may have to either persuade or coerce us into doing things we might not care to do.  Which we must be taught to expect and taught how to handle, as I have tried to do in various posts over the years on this site as well as another, because it is going to happen to us so we need to be prepared rather than just go around weeping and wailing how we have been "wronged" .  Sympathy as victims is cheap and easy to come by.  Real knowledge of people and how they work is power and requires learning, paying attention, and experience. 

Reading posts it seems many people believe we just started being victimized or speaking out recently which is simply not true. As long as we have been willing to help one another rather than only compete with one another and thank God it has not happened to us then then we supported one another.  As did men, by the way. Earlier in the 20th century in many communities where it was known that a woman was being mistreated by her husband he would be taken aside by men in the community and told to shape up in no uncertain terms.  But when our private lives became less community-oriented and more private there had to be less of this because people more and more feared interfering in private matters. 

"METOO" is an invention of and has become a darling of the media but the simple fact is that many of us were getting together to talk about the same things and take action against them in the 1970s and 80s as well.  I know because I was one of them which I have described in former posts on this site.  We were not media darlings nor could anyone use us for political purposes but we were simply concerned about our lots in life.  We were called "feminists" and we engaged in a certain amount of consciousness -raising. We did not seek to become media stars but only to help and support one another which we did in whatever ways we could .  And by doing so we learned much.  Which apparently subsequent generations of people have no interest in in their rush to get their own 15 minutes of fame. 

But I want to declare that no one of us, men or woman, is perfect as a human being and we are all guilty of flaws as human beings, some of them quite serious.  If men have acted to hurt us, or have with out acting to, so have we hurt them both directly and indirectly.  So I would not lay claim to any kind of moral superiority simply because I am a woman. I was created to interact with men ands love them, not to judge them.  And only in that way will we gain their respect because mutual respect is what it is all about.  Same goes for them.  Which is always an ongoing process and will never be completed or never be finished.  But will always need constant renewal through working together for the good of all.