On Respect — Is a basic lack of respect depicted in the #MeToo gender related or are we missing the bigger context?
The underlying theme behind #MeToo perpetrators is a basic (deliberate) lack of respect for a fellow human just to satisfy their impulses, for self-gratification. Is that purely a expression of untamed animal instinct, or a manifestation of lustful greed disguised as animal instinct in these individuals. Or, are these both one and the same? Do animals exhibit similar behavior? What role does gender play in this? Are only men (males) capable of uncontrolled animal instinct? Are only men (males) greedy? The two sexes aren’t that far apart in relation to the genetic make-up, so is the blame biological or in their conditioning. Or are we missing something. If the manifestation of greed is common in both sexes then with #MeToo are we only scratching the surface. What else is out there that’s not yet obvious?
Clearly #MeToo has exposed that the human male is still struggling to control their base instincts. In the case of animals, after putting them through a training program ( taming ) their natural instincts can be controlled. The SANparks website has the following to say on elephant behavior — “Elephants are usually peaceful animals. Females may, however, be aggressive when young calves are present and bulls can be exceptionally aggressive during musth (rut). All elephants may become aggressive when sick, injured or harassed.” But having read Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson’s man-eater stories in my childhood, I vaguely remember how having tasted blood a tiger or a leopard turns into a man-eater and threatens humans especially because they are easy prey.
Using the elephant analogy, is the human male’s aggressive behavior highlighted in #MeToo stories a male in rut or sick or injured or harassed. Clearly it’s not a male in rut or at least every male in rut that is exhibiting this behavior. Also, it appears that it’s largely people exploiting their position to their advantage. Are these males sick or injured or harassed? A liberal view point would analyze this to death and find something in the childhood of the accused and upbringing of the excused to explain their irresponsible behavior(s). A conservative view on other hand will bash the individuals exhibiting this behavior without attempting to understand the underlying causality. Whilst there might be a few sick or injured or harassed in the group it appears that a majority are healthy alpha males who seem to willfully exhibit this behavior.
It appears that this facet of human behavior has more in common with that of a man-eating tiger or leopard. These animals once they taste human blood crave for more. In the case of #MeToo perpetrators there is a pattern of never stopping once they have identified that their position grants them an easy prey. But what is perplexing though is the notion that this is somehow specific to a gender. In the case of man-eaters, gender does not seem to play a role and you have man-eating tigers and tigresses. So although #MeToo is primarily male-focused the underlying behavior is not gender specific. It appears that from a psychological sense this is a human frailty, the loss of self control. Taking advantage of another for personal benefit is probably more mainstream in human behavior. Scary as it seems, it is just that that we don’t seem to focus much on that.
In my opinion, while it is important to address #MeToo issue head on, it is critically important to understand the underlying human frailty is not gender specific. Everyday that goes by both sexes are exhibiting this when they are in a position of power. It is said that power corrupts and this behavior is just one manifestation of that. How do we put checks and balances in every situation that provides an individual or individual(s) too much power? Maybe this is where technology can help. Just like cameras have proved useful to protect the people against police brutality and the police against wrongful accusations when carrying out their duties, we need to rely more on technology to record proof of state. A Blockchain esque society where every transaction is a contract that provides protection and anonymity is probably the way to go. Knowing that baser instincts are likely to be kindled despite rules and regulations and proper upbringing, we need to build a modern society that protects us all from each other and allows us to interact and have wonderful lives. We humans are social beings and in such a society we can all thrive without an Orwellian fear that big brother is watching and will control our lives.
