I have been deeply troubled over the past few months as more and more allegations of sexual assault have surfaced all around us. It seems that no industry can hide from these horrific acts. There are politicians, filmmakers, actors, businessmen, CEOs, and coaches, to name a few. What do these alleged assailants have in common? The majority are white men.
While many of the white men we have heard about in recent months have either committed or allegedly committed atrocious acts of manipulation and abuse which I do not defend in any circumstance, they have not committed or been accused of their actions simply because they are white men. If this were the case, I too would likely go on to commit sexual assault, as would many of our relatives and friends.
Being a white man does not destine us to be sexual predators, just as being a woman does not mean that you will be victimized simply because you are a woman. For instance, nearly three percent of American men, which is most likely a low estimate, reported experiencing acts of sexual assault. And because of social stereotypes, male victims often struggle with reporting these events more than female victims.
Ultimately, it is an issue of power. We live in a society where men have advantages over women. A reality that I struggle to understand as a white man is I have not experienced this injustice like one who is being oppressed, but rather as one who is viewed as being in similar status to the oppressor. While I come with a different experience than some, I believe there is a common goal which I, along with many other men and women, seek to accomplish: to usher in a society where there is no discrimination based on gender or race; where no sexual crime, or any crime, goes unpunished according to the law; and where our place in the workplace, in our academics, and in our social life is determined by our qualifications, our strengths, and our characteristics.
We will not achieve this ideal society by simply flipping the scale to give women the power that men have been given, and in some cases unjustly taken. By “switching sides,” all that will be accomplished is injustice towards those who have served injustice.
I cannot, in my faith, argue for this, as I have no authority to bring the unjust oppressor to justice. I only have authority to help and defend the oppressed and to live in preparation for when the wrath of the true and just Lord arrives (see Romans 12:19). I am not arguing that we should do nothing and simply wait around for something to happen. I am arguing that we must understand that because simply being a white man, or a man of any race, does not determine a predatory sexual behavior, we cannot assume that the issue with gender inequality and sexual assault is only because of white males — meaning that we can assume that simply taking power from one gender and giving to another will not solve our problem. We must understand the logic behind our actions.
We must understand that gender equality does not mean one above the other. It means that employers hire solely on the basis of qualifications and benefits to the company, and pay is based on position, not gender. It means that women are given the same opportunity in academics as men; it means that women should not be taken advantage of because of their gender or any other factor. It also means that when she turns 18, a woman must register for selective service in the United States just as I, and many other, men did. As someone who disagrees with many aspects of our military, I wonder if women with similar beliefs are privileged in the sense that this is not required of them.
Power is not intrinsically given to men. It has been taken and perverted by our society in our broken and unjust world. In order to truly bring what change we can, we must understand the underlying cause of the issue. We must share our stories and validate the stories of others and act not on our emotion, but on our logic.
