Bring Back The Slap
A cranky opinion for
CRANKY OPINION SATURDAY
The following is the opinion of an
insensitive, cranky old man, with practically no social skills. Opposing opinions are welcome and probably
make a lot of sense. As always, please,
no name calling and that means you, you big stupid- head!
What
happened to the slap? I recall as a
young man, we watched not only our hands around young women, we watched our
mouth and our eyes. Get caught stealing
a peek…SLAP! Curse in front of a young lady…SLAP!
Inappropriately touch a young lady…DOUBLE
SLAP!!
We opened
doors for ladies, we respected ladies.
Oh, we leered when we could, and we spoke of sexual wants, but not in
the presence of ladies. We respected
ladies, and if we didn’t…SLAP!
In our 1960's college fraternity, when a brother's date entered the house, everyone was admonished, "Watch your mouth, a lady is in the house."
I know it is
not my faulty memory. Watch any old
movie from the forties or fifties. If a
man gets out of line in these movies, if he steals a kiss, takes a peek or
disrespects a lady…SLAP!
Somewhere
along the way to women demanding equal rights with men, and with the dropping of many sexual walls, respect for women has changed and for some reason the “Don’t disrespect me” SLAP has been discarded.
I am certain
that sexual abuse toward women has always been around, but it seems to be
almost casual these days. Politicians,
teachers, entertainers, every man in power seems to think it is OK to be
sexually aggressive to women, and I’m pretty sure it is not just men in
positions of power, they are just the ones who make the news.
In the olden
days, much of this aggressive behavior would be returned with a hard SLAP.
Men can be pigs, sometimes they need to be told in no uncertain terms
where the line is, and words don’t always work.
"No" does not always mean "no" to a clueless man. We do understand a SLAP.
Yes, times
have changed, and men get mixed signals that they did not use to get. Women want to be treated as equals in all
ways. Women compete with men
in areas they did not compete before, and this is a good thing.
Women may not act as demurely as in days gone by. Women no
longer “get the vapors” women do not use fake tears to get their way, they want to
compete on an even footing with men. Perhaps
that is why they no longer slap. Do
today’s women feel above the need to slap? Do they feel the slap is
demeaning? Do they feel that when a man
gets out of line simply telling him is enough?
It should be, but sadly it sometimes is not.
I do not
mean in any way to put the blame for aggressive male behavior on ladies. There is no excuse for men crossing the
line. We need to do a better job of
teaching our boys how to behave as men, how to respect women.
But ladies,
to help deliver the message of respect, bring back the SLAP. Some of us deserve
it. Some of us need it, and not just a
pity-pat; leave a hand print. Make it
hurt!
Men, shape
up. You need to stop the aggression, you
need to respect women…all women. No
means no, and a SLAP means HELL NO!!
Ladies, I
apologize for all the pigs of my gender.
You shouldn’t be put in uncomfortable positions, you deserve respect,
but in the meantime…
BRING BACK THE SLAP!!
The preceding was the opinion of a
cranky old man and not necessarily that of management…Mrs. Cranky.
OUCH!!
One reason I know for not slapping is that a lot of men would slap right back. So much of the respect for others has been lost in the past few years. It's a sad world. So we need to focus on the happy and the good if we don't want to be dragged down.
ReplyDeleteThis is the best post on an awful subject that I have seen. Women fought for their rights and got them and now the situation has worsened. Mind you, I look at some of the outfits women wear these days and often think to myself 'they're asking for trouble'. That is not an excuse, just a thought.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that some men will just laugh when slapped, and keep going. The other problem is that some of them will try to prosecute her for battery, and claim they did nothing to deserve it. After all, if all he did was look, can she prove he looked in a certain manner or at a certain spot on her body?
ReplyDeleteIt might teach a few of them a lesson, but those who believe their power gives them the right to do as they please won't stop with a slap
I thought the slap was more of a TV/movie thing and didn't happen in real life. Personally, I think a well-placed kick would work better.
ReplyDeleteI'm pickin' up what you're layin' down! But I agree with River. Men would slap back. Probably not those from our generation, but those younger. That's their attitude. "If she wants to act like a man, I'll treat her like a man." I've heard it from the kids squabbling at school.
ReplyDeleteI'm in fundamental agreement with what you're saying here, Joe. My dad taught me to treat women with respect, and I've tried to teach my sons the same thing.
ReplyDeleteThe problem, as I see it, comes from the cultural conceit that women and men are not merely equals (ie, before the law, or in the eyes of God), but identical. And they're not. When a man and a woman have sex, the woman is the one who will get pregnant, if anyone does. And on average, men are bigger and stronger than women, and thus more able to impose their wills in a sheer physical way. So yeah, 50 years downstream from the effective end of 'The Slap', I would worry about what would happen to one of my daughters if she slapped a boorish man for his boorishness.
Back in the 70s, I had a woman punch me in the stomach because I held the door for her. I admonished her that I didn't think that was quite the precendent she wanted to set. . .
And just for the sake of saying so, I've gotten the manipulative fake tears from some otherwise proudly feminist women. . .
A good many of the women bringing cases aganst men in this current free for all are, I feel, somewhat to blame for what happens to them. The men are in positions of power and the women want something from them...usually a leg up in their careers whatever that may be....so at the time of the 'happening' they say nothing and they get what they want. Is it fair for them to bring charges now? I don't know. Yes, bring back the slap and maybe the old knee to the groin. BUT remember you may not get what you want.
ReplyDeleteVery Well Done Joe! Standing and Applauding here! I agree with you 100% Joe, we do need to do a better job teaching our young men and boys to respect women and the proper way to treat them, and also the proper way to act around them. There is no excuse for men crossing the line, and if we even get remotely close to that line, Bring on that Slap!
ReplyDeleteI think you have come up with an excellent teaching tool to help get us all back on the same page, Slap! and another thing if you cross that line and get a Slap, you are not allowed to slap her because she hit you!
Excellent post Joe
Somehow I missed the slap generation. "No" and "stop it" use to work fine till I hit the work force. You are so right. We all need to be teaching respect to our younguns, male and female, not just sexually but as human beings.
ReplyDeleteI think this is the reason everyone loved Downton Abbey...a time of grace and slaps...truly! We raised 4 boys and I can say they are very respectful of women. Probably because their Dad wouldn't allow any disrespect toward me or any other women in his presence or if he found out otherwise the slap would be the least of their problems! I work in an environment where male Docs used to have the OK to treat nurses as second class citizens. Very glad that has stopped and not tolerated in our hospital. Very good and timely post. No slap for you...just a nice pat on the back!
ReplyDeleteMany years ago I was in a relationship where my girlfriend slapped me all the time, just because she was mad and couldn't express herself in any other way. After a few months I explained to her that I was raised to respect women and it was not acceptable for men to hit women, but I told her if she ever slapped me again I'd slap her back. It was interesting because she didn't seem to be aware that she was doing it. She stopped slapping me but the relationship didn't make it, thankfully.
ReplyDeleteFrom Olga and deleted in error:
ReplyDeleteOlga Hebert has left a new comment on your post "Bring Back The Slap":
A timely topic. I wish everyone could understand that no means no.
Well done, Joe.
ReplyDelete... and those who deserve it will be quick to press assault charges, we indict for everything these days.
ReplyDeleteI basically agree with you; however, just like women have changed and stopped slapping, men have changed, too, and stopped reacting to the slap.
ReplyDeleteNot all women, not all men - just the ones we're talking about here in this post.