A Gentleman’s Guide to the #MeToo Era

Let’s review the new-old rules of sexual engagement

Photo by Thomas AE on Unsplash

“Separate the syllables of the word gentleman, and you will see that the first requisite must be gentleness — gentle-man.”

“Few persons are sufficiently aware of the power of gentleness. It is slow in working, but it is infallible in its results.“

— The Gentlemen’s Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness by Cecil B Hartley

There are few things more dangerous than a man whose confusion leads to fear, which ultimately leads to anger. Right now many men are confused. Some are downright scared. Many believe that women wield a new form of power. Some of these same men accuse women of conducting a witch hunt. They claim they must contend with life-altering misinterpretations and career-ruining false allegations. They’re scared of this new power they believe women will leverage against them. Even Superman’s afraid, if you can believe it.

You know things are bad when the Man of Steel quivers.

Recently, actor Henry Cavill misspoke in an interview with GQ Australia intended to promote his new movie Mission Impossible: — Fallout. His words lit a firestorm of controversy related to the #MeToo Movement. Asked about his thoughts on the movement, Cavill said:

There’s something wonderful about a man chasing a woman. There’s a traditional approach to that, which is nice. I think a woman should be wooed and chased, but maybe I’m old-fashioned for thinking that.

That’s not a bad sentiment. If anything, it’s a perfectly harmless throwback expression of masculinity. But then the Superman actor went on to add:

It’s very difficult to do that if there are certain rules in place. Because then it’s like: ‘Well, I don’t want to go up and talk to her, because I’m going to be called a rapist or something’. So you’re like, ‘Forget it, I’m going to call an ex-girlfriend instead, and then just go back to a relationship, which never really worked’. But it’s way safer than casting myself…