In today’s edition of ‘middle-aged white guys telling minorities they’re overreacting’, we have Malcolm Roberts! Welcome to the club, pal – we wish it was more exclusive but what can you do.
The One Nation senator was discussing why 18C needs to be repealed, on the basis that “offense is taken, not given”.
While he was telling demi-god Patricia Karvelas that those repeatedly harassed for their race are just being big babies (because you can tell him he’s white and from QLD and it wouldn’t bother him), the much-contested topic (sigh) of sexual harassment reared its ugly head.
Roberts claimed that unlike racial harassment, there’s a physical element in sexual harassment so it’s easy to assess – except of course, it’s not always physical.
*Karvelas: You did say you did think that sexual harassment should be illegal, and it is of course, but sexual harassment can be verbal. It’s not always physical. When it’s verbal should that also be legal?
Roberts: Well we know when someone… is a wolf-whistle harassment? It depends upon the person. Some girls think that that is wonderful, they, you know, they smile. Others are offended. So, wolf-whistle in one court are we going to outlaw it, and another court we’re going to say it’s fine, a compliment?
Karvelas: So in that sense you think sexual harassment laws go too far as well?
Roberts: When it comes to verbal, as I said before, yeah.
Karvelas: You do?
Roberts: Yes.
Karvelas: So do you believe in law reform around sexual harassment laws?*
It was at this point Roberts admitted he hadn’t actually read the laws, so it’s good he has an opinion on them.
His comments that some women like being wolf-whistled comes from this inherently misguided belief way too many men hold – that it’s a compliment, and everyone likes a compliment.
It’s not a compliment, it’s power play.
Some men think they can call out to you, whistle, tell you to smile and they’re entitled to a response.
But when they don’t get a response, they can follow you or box you in and interrogate you about why you said didn’t acknowledge them, because “you’re not even hot”.
That’s not a compliment; it’s never about the subject, it’s always about the harasser.
The same belief leads men to think telling a girl to smile is normal and well-intended, right?
Which is why blokes tell other blokes to “cheer up, love” so often.
Oh, wait…
And don’t even get me started on the mystical “nice guy” that is just yelling out to say hello, despite you making it firmly (but politely in case he has a concealed weapon) clear you’re not interested in striking up a conversation, thanks very much.
The sad truth is, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a woman who hasn’t endured one, if not all, of the above scenarios.
Roberts says, “Politicians are expected to know everything about everything”.
I think everyone knows that’s not true. We’ve accepted our pollies know pretty much nothing, but we do expect our MPs to know sexual assault isn’t ever okay.
Even if you think it’s a compliment, trust me – it’s not.
