BeaverFever BeaverFever:
Which right is more important? The right to hit on women or the right not to be sexually assaulted or harrassed? Which should err on the side of caution for which side?
It's not the "right to hit on a woman" vs the "right to not be sexually assaulted". That's a false equivalency.
This issue shouldn't be any different than any other legal issue. Follow the law. That means no assault, no unwanted touching, and if someone feels you are harassing them and makes you aware - you stop.
The problem is, so many of these complaints come from a place of "I should never, ever, ever have to feel the slightest bit uncomfortable", and that is ridiculous. I won't jump on the life is hard, or unfair or whatever conversation. But I will say, life is *awkward* at times. You can't make awkwardness criminal. It's not criminal in any other aspect of life, but, recently being sexually awkward has become a pseudo-crime. I say "pseudo" because it is *not a crime*... but the way the media ruins anyone who is even accused of being sexually awkward certainly punishes people like it is criminal... which leads me to another point.
Why is it ok to publicly ruin a man’s life by making unproven allegations? You can’t put a woman’s name in the media who was sexually assaulted, because that would further ruin her life. But the instant you accuse a man of any kind of sexual “crime”, that person’s life is *over*, and that is not ok. Think back to how many accusations in the media have later been proven as false… Innocent until proven guilty.