I'm a 27-Year-Old White Male and I've Never Sexually Harassed a Woman

Sexual harassment lately has been overwhelmingly a part of our daily reads, and has made headlines across media sources across the nation. The #MeToo movement will accordingly go down in history as one of the most eye opening civil movements in my generation's days of yore, and rightfully so. Many women across the country finally must no longer be afraid to step forward about the abuse and bedevilment they have experienced from men that they work alongside, live with, or encounter in day to day activities. From politicians, to an overabundance of male Hollywood celebrities, to Olympic trainers; it finally seems as if men of high profile can no longer get a way with petty actions of sexual objectification and perversion, which we should all applaud!

However, there is one thing that begins to dishearten me even more about the cornucopia of sexual accusations that are making headlines on a daily basis. After each new disclosure arises, I see more and more people acknowledging, resigning, and apologizing than I see people in authority actually doing anything about the clearly unrestricted problem. As much as I believe that acknowledging the problem is the first step to major change, I can't pretend to say that I see any system implementing itself soon to stop it, and as much as I support the #MeToo movement, I can't help but consider the fact that in the end we might be left more separated than we were before.

Thankfully, the U.S. senate passed a bill that would impose more strict reporting requirements on gymnastics and many more amateur sports, which is a step in the right direction. However, if the #MeToo movement doesn't continue to directly pursue active legislation on the senate floor, then we face another serious threat born of the movement itself. A socio-political indoctrination of gender in the United States could spell the end for any conventional friendship or relationship between men and women whether it's at work or just out for a night on the town. Imagine a workplace where men and women are completely segregated, and working alongside each other has become intolerable due to employer's fears of sexual harassment taking place in common work areas. A world where men and women work together or communicate on a sophisticated level could become a thing of the past if we are not careful. Men would be forever frightened of speaking to women based on the idea that they might by accident offend her, and women face the fear of forever being frightened of men themselves! A society indoctrinated of this belief would be terrifying, but I believe there is something that all men in this country can do to avoid this ever happening.

The answer is: Be a gentleman! As more and more sexual allegation charges are released everyday, it has dawned on me that men of all classes have forgotten how to respect women in the first place. Perhaps the problem is growing systemically in this country, but men need to get back to their roots of chivalry. Let's stop objectifying women and learn to honor them once again, and perhaps this is what the #MeToo movement has the potential of doing. Next time you see a girl in line, don't tell her that her ass looks nice in those pants, even if you think you're being nice! Instead write your phone number down on a piece of paper and hand it to her; tell her she's cute for crying out loud and ask if you can take her to dinner. When you meet a girl at the bar and she actually gives you her number, don't immediately ask her to send nudes. Instead, ask her out for a cup of coffee the following morning, seriously! At work, don't comment on a woman's appearance at all. The reason she looks so nice is so she can be as professional as possible, and stop pretending she spent all that time getting ready that morning to impress you! Instead, congratulate her on her hard work in the office that day. So really, let's all be the men that open car doors for women, put our coats over their head in the rain, and do our best to listen to every word they say and learn as much as we can about them. If we can accomplish this, then we can gain back women's respect and trust, and if we can't, then we are doomed to an isolated and discriminative future.