The Pot And The Kettle

There is an old saying to express hypocrisy, "Well, that's the pot calling the kettle black."  Back when meals were prepared over an open fire of wood, every pot and kettle turned black. Pointing out the discoloration in another while ignoring your own is hypocrisy.

Jesus called out the religious leaders of his day saying, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean" (Matt 23:27).  They presented themselves as one thing but in reality were the other. This too is hypocrisy.

Pretending to be what you are not or accusing another of what you are just as guilty is hypocrisy.  I saw it in some if the celebrities protesting against President Trump for lowering the value of women in some comments he has made over years while they have made a career of doing precisely that. Celebrities like Madonna, Lady Ga Ga and Miley Cyrus sexually objectify womanhood in their acts daily.  They are lewd, crude and rude while accusing him of being insensitive.  While I have no desire to defend the President's crude statements, I cannot help note their extreme hypocrisy.

The objectification of women as sexual objects is a multi-billion dollar industry that exists partly because women like those mentioned above gain notoriety and wealth while promoting it. Rap music, which is misogyny on steroids, is popular among women as well as men. There is a bug problem in this country of women being sexually objectified but it is not being introduced by the President.

He has had his problems and I hope he will do better but the problem runs much deeper and wider than any one person. And the answer will not be found in a new President, it will only be found in a new attitude among the women who accept and/or project objectification of womanhood.

My wife, who has taken a dim view of these crude displays and loud protests for a change, offered this suggestion: "Be the change you want to see."  Brilliant!  If you want to take the power out of the sexual devaluation of women, refuse to participate. Don't support lewdness in the arts or media, don't mimic it in your dress or actions, choose a different path and others will begin to follow.

Our President needs to do better, men in general need to do better, but women cannot afford to leave the change needed in the hands of men alone. Women need to reject it in the women they choose to follow and in their individual lives.  Change can come if we expect it and encourage it in others and ourselves. Jus' Say'n.