There are degrees of harassment and acts women endure.

[boston bean]

From a grab on the butt. A slinking hand down the backside or upside. An aggressive and or unwanted kiss. Leering. Cat calling.

Sex jokes galore.

All of it just another day in the world as a woman.

Is it right? Hell, NO

There is also:

Rubbing an erect penis on a woman. Grabbing their pussy. Showing the junk. Masturbating in front of. Rape. Sexual assault of any kind.

Bad, disgusting, and criminal.

Then there is doing any of the above to a minor child. Absolutely sickening. Lock em up and throw away the key.

[EllieBC]

1. Today I learned:

It depends on which side of the political aisle the woman sits for you to decide if to believe her or not.

We women have few friends.

[boston bean]

2. It has no political boundaries.

[EllieBC]

3. Oh I know.

As a Jewish women I'm aware my friends are few and far between. I'm well aware that on both sides of the divide, "friends" are more often than not temporary.

[gollygee]

4. I agree

The big picture here is that harassment is a societal issue and not just a part of one political party or something only a small group of men have done. A large number of men have overstepped bounds in small to medium ways at some point in their past. Society has always held that it's been OK to commit these smaller acts of harassment, and in fact that it isn't harassment at all, and so it's been common. I had someone apologize to me recently because he realized that something he did a long time ago was harassment. He didn't realize it at the time because it was totally normal. To a large extent, it still is. We're just starting to really look at this issue. But what he did wasn't a particularly big deal. I appreciate that all the news about harassment made him look back and realize that what he did was indeed harassment and wasn't just flirting. But I've been the subject of so much harassment over my life that I hadn't thought of that event for a long time. It's that common. Most women have been on the receiving end of harassment over and over and over again. That means it isn't just a few men who have done it, and it isn't just men from one political party or one religion or one socioeconomic class or one region or one anything. It's been all through society.

Hopefully we're starting to get to a point where people understand that it isn't just a joke and it isn't funny.

But what Al Franken did is not anywhere near what Roy Moore did. There are degrees of harassment. And we can't indict all men, or kick all men out of their jobs. We have to he able to make a distinction between annoying stuff like what happened to me and what Franken did, and serious criminal behavior like what Roy Moore is accused of. And then we have to keep talking about it so hopefully our kids don't have to grow up being harassed over and over again like we have been. There's great potential for societal change right now.

Also, I appreciate that Franken gave an actual apology, which seems rare.

[Puzzledtraveller]

5. Thank you

We have a long way to go still. As a father of 3 year old girl I am hopeful at what has come to light recently, that no slight is too small and we have to be accountable.