Scribblings

It’s a brave new world in which women and people of color are determined to participate

The current occupant of the White House has some fairly fanatical supporters who wish we could just go back to the good old days of the 1950s when America’s economy was thriving, women were secretaries and men ruled. Well, let me clarify that. White men ruled. It seems that now that their hegemony over the rest of the world is being challenged, they are getting more than a little nervous. I totally understand their concerns.

I grew up in that world of the fifties. There was an order to be followed and everyone followed it. Maybe not all were following it willingly, but one way or another, you learned to march in step or you didn’t march at all. Ergo we had the days of white male rule while women and people of color were expected to walk ten steps behind and bow in awe at every word coming out of the male mouth. So I can see where the white male longs to bring this era back.

In fact, in case you aren’t following this breathlessly already, there is a senate candidate in Missouri who has published what can only be called the official white male manifesto of our age. It includes, among other fun facts, his expectation that dinner will be prepared by his wife and on the table at six every night – that is, assuming she can shake the snakes out that he claims fill women’s heads.

I want to assume that this candidate has done this deliberately to raise some headlines and his profile, which is why I’m not naming him. I want to believe that even the most backwards of males in 2018 would not really believe in this load of caca. But alas, it is a straight shot out of the conservative, religious right fanatical playbook. I can’t wait to see what he proclaims as the role of African-Americans, Native Americans and Latinos in his world.

The two recent women’s marches seems to have scared the bejesus out of a lot of men who feel threatened by intelligent and competent women. Most white men walk into almost any job with the advantage of the assumption that they are competent. A woman walking into that same job arrives with a need to prove she is competent. There is no assumption that anyone with a womb can be capable of doing a man’s job.

Believe it or not, despite the disgusting statistics here in Alaska about domestic violence and specifically violence against women, I am proud to be an Alaskan. We gave women the right to vote before the nation caught on to what a good idea that was. We have heroes who fought for equality for all, people like Elizabeth Peratrovich of the Raven moiety of the Tlingit Nation. Over two decades before civil rights became a national conversation, Elizabeth forced Alaskans to face the discrimination in their society and deal with it. As a state we may not yet be perfect in regards to equality for all, but we are further ahead than we would have been without her.

As was inevitable, a backlash has started, seemingly led by that Neanderthal Missouri candidate. Men are now complaining that they don’t know the rules; that they can’t have an innocent flirtation at work without being accused of harassment. Certainly the days they long for were much better for them. They were at the top of the mountain and allowed no others to share that spot. Now these uppity women and people of color are demanding the right to get a piece of the pie based on their actions and not the munificence of some male who decides how big of a cut they get. Moreover, for women, how much they get will no longer be based on how much they “gave at the office”.

For far too long, if your boss or someone in a higher position flirted with you, you were hampered in how you could respond. Tell him how truly creepy he made you feel and you could lose your job or get stuck on your career path. So you let him get away with it because you had a kid at home to feed or a mortgage to pay.

It’s a new world out there. It’s a world where those who have been left out are breaking in despite increased efforts to hamper them. It’s a world in which men cannot flirt with women at work without consequences.

And if this makes men feel like they don’t know how to act at work anymore, here’s a simple rule. Work is for work. Happy hour is for flirting. That simply can’t be too complicated a concept for the male brain to grasp. Women get it.

.