Since its inception, the #MeToo movement has been routinely overshadowed by the more negative aspects of the cause. With the increased spotlight on sexual harassment and abuse, we’ve seen predators like Harvey Weinstein held accountable for their actions. This comeuppance is painful for victims, yet necessary. However, we’ve also seen fairly rigid definitions of abuse tossed aside in favor of generalizations. Men as a whole are not the enemy, but things seem to be trending that direction.
On March 29, Democrat Lucy Flores accused former Vice President Joe Biden of acting inappropriately toward her in 2014 with an extended kiss on the back of her head. Biden, a probable candidate for the 2020 presidential election, has denied any wrongdoing, although he is known for treating women in an overly affectionate and sometimes downright creepy manner. At times, he steps over the line of decorum into the realm of the unwanted and awkward. This is common knowledge.
The media’s focus on what is next for Biden and how this news affects his potential candidacy serves to highlight their lack of consistency when it comes to this serious issue. Suddenly, minor, yet inappropriate, actions of a lauded figure in leftist circles are bad. But the past hasn’t changed, only the desire to find a foolproof candidate who can beat an incumbent. When the polarizing Republican opponent is a man with his own questionable history toward women, your guy needs a clean record. We’ve seen the same effect on political legacies. In recent years, the behavior of former President Bill Clinton has been conveniently re-examined by some who shrugged it off in previous decades.
The media’s #MeToo inconsistency doesn’t end there. It is more than evident in their continued reaction to Vice President Mike Pence’s lack of sexual wrongdoing.
The vice president has very strict, personal standards concerning how he interacts with those of the opposite sex. Without a doubt, they leave no room for misconduct. By doing so, he respects women in general and most importantly, his wife, Karen. Despite the good that this personal code does, the media has run a campaign of ridicule that includes articles like How Pence’s Dudely Dinners Hurt Women, Mike Pence poses biggest threat to women in a generation, say campaigners, Mike Pence’s Marriage and the Beliefs That Keep Women from Power, and a piece from mid-March about a current Democratic candidate’s feelings on the subject entitled Harris says it’s ‘outrageous’ that Pence limits one-on-one meetings with women, just to name a few.
Apparently, respecting your wife and other women too much, enough to remove any past, present, or future doubts, is a bad, bad thing. In the #MeToo era, where there is a range of improper behavior on a scale of Biden to Weinstein, society at large could actually use more of Mike Pence’s attitude. Shouldn’t the absence of indecorous conduct be a thing to applaud?
I’ve never been one to believe that a lack of indecency is somehow magically demeaning to me as a woman, but then again, I’m not a third-wave feminist vying for a top spot in the Oppression Olympics. Treating females with nothing but high esteem doesn’t reduce us; the opposite is true. By establishing that women are to be treated with the utmost respect leaves no room for impropriety. It’s clear that in this never-ending quest for gender equality, we’ve lost something important.
It remains to be seen whether Biden will survive this current news cycle and enter the presidential race or not. Regardless, the questions surrounding his minor, but inappropriate, behavior are justified. Going forward, he should learn to keep his hands to himself.
In 2019, we’re told that predators are around every corner, political or otherwise. That Pence leads a rather puritanical life means he is part of the solution, not the problem.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
