The times they are a changin

Every generation finds new relevance in Bob Dylan's old folk tune.  The latest issue to reflect the lyrics is the struggle of women against the patriarchy and its insistence on objectifying and degrading the fair sex.  It started with Harvey Weinstein and has since snowballed into a full fledged examination of men's attitudes about women, sex and power.  Episodes of misogyny from decades ago have been dragged into the spotlight and the men who perpetrated the outrages are belatedly paying for them in the court of public opinion.  In a way, it is the Handmaid's Tale in reverse.  Now it is the men who must search their consciences for evidence of discrimination and pay a price in the court of public opinion.  Even Bill Clinton is not immune to the urge by many to force a reckoning on any man who took advantage of women by virtue of his superior position in the social and political hierarchy.  What most men still don't realize is we continue to enjoy an advantage over women because all of our social, political and religious institutions start with the assumption of male superiority.  In a way, it is worse than racism because it stems from the very earliest civilizations.  Unless and until several generations of men and women are raised as true equals, the struggle will continue.