Grow up, boys

It's gotten to where the first half hour of the news shows in the morning is exclusively dedicated to the latest sex scandals.

To his everlasting shame, Sen. Al Franken - a man I regarded until now as estimable - joined the Pantheon Of Shame. No, it doesn't seem like he had improper relations with anyone, but it does seem that he got all hands-y with people other than the woman who has been his wife for many years.

And the other names are legion! Conyers, Barton, Toback, Weinstein, Halperin, Spacey, Oreskes, Piven, Hoffman, Ratner, Westwick, Seagal, C.K., Tambor, Thrush, Rose, Moore, G.H.W. Bush, for crying out loud...these are not the names of men of whom we can be proud.  And sure, there may be among them men who are simon-pure, guilty of nothing, smeared unfairly. For sure, not every man on the list is guilty and not every man walking around the mall or the golf course is up to, or down for, no good.

But you will notice that the list of sex harassers and deviates and molesters contains the name of no woman.  I think it's time for men to grow up.

Take the senior Bush, president 41. Women are now coming forward to say that he found amusement in asking them if they knew who his favorite magician is, and then he would gleefully chortle "David Cop-a-feel!" as he grabbed onto their buttocks with the same right hand that once he used to pilot an Avenger as the youngest jet pilot in the WWII Navy.

Chalk it up to his age, or being a little dotty, but his actions are emblematic of long-ago attitudes that once were pervasive and, if not accepted, at least allowed to pass without comment.

No more. 

It's time for men to grow up. If you're married, you're not supposed to run your hands on women to whom you are not married.  

I mean, really, Steven.

And just to be clear, single men: you should keep your hands to yourself as well, unless it's clearly communicated that your explorations are welcomed.

And no one of any gender or persuasion has the right to belittle or demean or pressure anyone else, so just knock it off.

It's not 1945 anymore, and women are damn well sick and tired of men acting like perpetual high school sophomores.

Men in need of guidance, or having questions about how to act in any situation, should remember to follow the lead of the one group that seems to know how to behave.

Women.