On TSA Sexism

> I sympathize with everyone who’s being screened or groped against their will, but there is some irony here. When male bodily autonomy is challenged, it’s a social emergency! A man’s junk is his castle. What did our ancestors fight and die for if not the right of the penis to be left alone? Women are expected to compromise whenever their bodily autonomy conflicts with someone else’s idea of the greater good. I’m thinking of bringing a “Don’t touch my junk!” sign to my next pro-choice protest. Empathy is catching. Allowing pilots to avoid these scans but not flight attendants is obviously sexist and should be remedied. But I doubt this was so much a question of “a man’s junk is his castle” as it was the pilot’s union having more money and influence to throw at a potential lawsuit than the flight attendant’s union did.

I’m following this story closely, as you may imagine, and I’m starting to see a trend of influential women crying foul about how this is a “white male” problem, and that’s the only reason it’s getting all this press. I don’t see the logic in this approach. If your goal is getting the much larger problem of females and minorities being groped and assaulted by authorities on a regular basis into the public view, why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to ally with your newly infuriated white male population? I mean, sure we’re only crying now that it involves us, too, but that’s no reason to call us crybabies. That’s call for celebration.

Alienating the white males who are upset about the TSA gains you what, exactly?

What your argument sounds like to a white male is “shut up, crybaby. We have it much worse,” rather than “I’m glad you’ve finally joined the party. We’ve been putting up with it for years. How about you help us out and we’ll help you out, too?”

Women, children, and minorities are subject to the same TSA rules as white males. It’s a common injustice, for once. So use that opportunity while you have our attention to drive awareness of the greater issue with your clueless male friends.

It never ceases to amaze me when I watch people who are being oppressed turn around and criticize others who are being oppressed, rather than focusing their energy on the oppressor. This is about the rich elite vs. the poor and middle class, not black or white, male or female. It’s about civil liberties.