Sexual assault is different now than it was before.
Joe Biden, the Democrat’s presumptive nominee to challenge Donald Trump for president of the United States, has been accused by Tara Reade, a former staffer, of sexually assaulting her in 1993.
My argument is that, that was then and this is now. Things have changed. I believe Tara and I don’t believe Joe. I think what happened happened – Joe Biden aggressively interacted sexually with Tara Reade. But now, how the event is interpreted has changed.
More importantly, cultures (norms) change, but people at their core don’t.
For Example
take the AMC serial show MadMen. It ran from 2007 to 2015. I was an avid fan. But recently I tried to re-watch it and couldn’t. I cringed as I watched the first two episodes of season one. Were men really that awful? I asked myself. My answer, probably.
Okay, the time frame was post Korean War to about 1970. The period corresponded to my formative years. Many of the props (setting) in the show I recognized! I liked the protagonist, antihero, Don Draper.
Sexual Assault
parameters, or the Overton Window, have shifted. However, the basic, fundamentals of the human condition have not. (See Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs.)
When Joe Biden “assaulted” Tara Reade – that was pretty much “normal” male/female, boss/employee, power behavior. Or, no big deal. Comes and goes with the job, etc. and so on. Recall Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. That was after the Biden/Reade incident. At that time, even when exposed, President Bill Clinton’s approval ratings’ went up!
What Is What
depends, upon the context. Or, the interaction between the zeitgeist and the individual. And individuals are different. Which only compounds the problem of what is what, and who did what to whom, when, where, and why.
Pick Your poison.
Whose side are on? Well that depends on who sets the demarcations, or boundaries. Or, the ultimate question: who decides? Are you running with the Caravan of Fools?
