THE PRESSURE IS RELENTLESS. Am I the only one defending the bridge over the Tiber? Perhaps like Horatius I will survive. If not, when I cross the river Styx with the help of the boatman Charon, I shall report to my fellow comrades below that I fought the good fight but lost.
My article What Women Want, published the other day, only evoked comment from a gentleman who misunderstood the purport of the biblical quotations. He should email me for an explanation. Perhaps because my hunting days are over, having overshot the allotted lifetime limit, I have nothing to fear from the fairer sex. Gone are the days of horning and being horned. However, what about the new generation of men? I say men because although the language of these publications is couched ambiguously, the obvious target is male. First the Wild Coot tries to draw the tongue of men to see if I could get some support, but lo and behold, the men seem to have already consented to a vasectomy. Not a peep!
“Good morning miss, you look ‘stocious’ in that get-up.” No reply. Perhaps she did not sleep well. “Your dress is pretty, did you make it yourself?”
“Wild Coot, don’t keep harassing me. As a matter of fact, I shall report you to the IMPACT Justice as I deplore your coming on to me.”
“Sorry, miss, sorry.”
“Sorry! You will see sorry when they deal with your backside up there.”
The IMPACT Justice Model Bill provides “inter alia, that if a person makes an unwelcome sexual comment, innuendo, gesture, advance, requests sexual favours, provided a person with unwelcomed sexual images graphics, audio, transmits unwelcome electronic messages of a sexual nature to or about a person, or makes it appear to a person seeking employment that the employment is being offered on condition that the person accepts or submits to sexual advances from the prospective employer, that this constitutes sexual harassment”.
This is a catch-all phraseology. In the vast majority of cases it will impact mainly on the relationship of men with the women. The interplay between the sexes.
You know, “too far east is west”, my mother, God rest her in her grave, used to say that to me.
The article, submitted by a highly respected lady, continues. “The bill prohibits sexual harassment not only in employment, but in educational institutions, accommodation, by service providers, members of an association, an organisation of workers, an organisation of employers and persons who operate employment agencies. Employers are also made liable for any act of sexual harassment by their agents if the conduct occurs in the course of employment and the employer knew or ought reasonably to have known or was informed of the commission of such conduct, and on being made aware, failed to take reasonable steps to prevent its continuation.”
Since the Wild Coot has been out of the workforce for a while, the situation must have deteriorated to such an extent that this draconian legislation has become necessary . . . or is there a sinister intent? Remember my article, What Women Want. Talk about men treading on eggshells.
Two situations can be quoted. Perhaps we men are at fault. First let me start by observing the many cases of women being the sole caretaker of a bundle of children. Few women neglect this responsibility. There are three sides to this story. How can incarceration expunge the monetary requirement of support or even help for children? This correction should be aimed at the children. Then our education system has been left mainly to women. Kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, and the women in the majority at the university. The formative years when the male sex is under the influence of the female.
So some women are asserting their position. However, when it comes to the law, it is supposed to be even handed.
I should think that right now there are more urgent things with which we should be concerned. My friend Bobby is calling for an apology. I did a bit of peeping and I found that both Blacks and Whites were and are slave drivers. One for silver and the other for trinkets.
• Harry Russell is a banker. Email: quijote70@gmail.com
