Letter to the Editor: Locker rooms were nothing like this

To the Editor:

The adjectives are consistent, disgusting and vulgar. I’ve scolded and blocked friends on Facebook and then deleted my account out of, well, disgust. This election is unlike anything we’ve experienced in our lifetime. It’s become less rational and more tribal.

Trump supporters say, if you bought ‘50 Shades of Grey’ but shun Trump you’re a hypocrite. If you voted for Bill Clinton, you’re a hypocrite. Well, I voted for Clinton so I stopped to think about why it’s different today. The difference is simply the Internet and social media. The latter is something I begrudgingly accepted but eventually embraced. It is an unlimited amount of unfiltered information if you use it right.

In the 1990’s it was mostly he said/she said and not until the audiotapes of Monica Lewinsky’s phone conversations was Clinton finally exposed after he repeatedly denied anything improper.

Today, we have Instagram accounts like Mia Matsumiya exposing men’s emails at @perv_magnet. On Twitter, @iHollaback exposed the gauntlet of street harassment women face just walking. More outrageous is Kelly Oxford’s #NotOkay. The stories are overwhelming; women sharing their first sexual assault encounter, many as young girls. Think about all this. Today, we are made explicitly aware through video, texts, and emails and are thus obligated to help stop this behavior. The ‘Mad Men’ days are over. That is the difference.

BTW, I played football, rugby, basketball and lacrosse … and no, locker rooms were nothing like this. Any man who says this talk is normal says a lot about that person and nothing more.

Michael Bachety
Shoreline