I THINK WE’VE CUT MEN’S BALLS OFF.
Stella Ralfini. I think we’ve cut men’s balls off I feel it’s important to share views on subjects like this even if it divides us, since to me it represents healthy debate. Therefore, without further ado, let me tell you what got up my nose last week. I was watching a commercial on TV. It showed a man in his place of business, hand a file to a female member of staff. He obviously fancied her, saw himself as the cat’s whiskers but his flirting skills sucked. Although he oggled her with an ‘I’d love to get your knickers off’ look in his eyes, he said nothing crude, wasn’t aggressive and didn’t touch her. Then a banner appeared on the commercial that said ‘This is also sexual harassment. Speak up and now and call this number.’ The woman in the commercial was made to appear weak and pathetic. I felt like shouting at her to take control and give him a piece of her mind if she was offended, but no, that was not the message the Sexual Harassment Squad wanted to pass on. There is a huge difference between flirting (even when it leans towards crudity) and sexual harassment. As a professional life coach, I deal with sexual harassment (and sexual abuse) on a regular basis and agree that men who inflict mental or physical abuse on a woman and force her to have sex, either through bullying or threats, deserve to have their balls cut off. However, we are not talking about such men. We are talking about those who have simply lost their way, lost the art of flirting, say stupid things and come across as blunt. When I was young, we didn’t file lawsuits against builders who whistled at us when we passed, or when men in cars, on motorbikes or Lambrettas honked their horns and paid us compliments. Even on occasions when compliments were a bit near the mark and included phrases like ‘nice tits,’ we just gave them a dirty look and that was the end of it – but I’ll tell you what – men were men and