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Last Tuesday, Gwynne Dyer headlined his Express column Stupid old men. You could substitute all sorts of adjectives before the words, old men, to describe the characteristics of the cohort that has had the most influence on the world we inhabit.
Greedy, self-righteous, racist, arrogant, selfish, a multitude of negative words readily suit the clique.
At first, angrily thinking about the subject of today’s column, I was focusing on Caribbean men in leadership positions who have been sleazy lechers, foisting themselves on hapless females and males with impunity.
A wise head reminded me that this was not a behavioural pattern particular to this region. He cited enough examples to redirect my mind, and as we discussed the matter which triggered our conversation, his points made it apparent that the surrounding issues have a lot to do with:
How they are protected; how their dirty behaviours are condoned; and the extents to which they and their sycophants would go to cover up the sickening practices.
Global headlines alone confirm it. Presidents, prime ministers, evangelists, priests, academics, police, entertainers, athletes, footballers, cricketers—anywhere power is loose, the demons are at play.
The predators are notorious because everyone knows who they are and what they do. The problem is that they get away with it.
These people operate mostly within institutions; bodies that supposedly have codes of ethics and systems to enforce them. But history has shown that even when efforts are made to expose them, the rules collapse.
If you are privy to the kinds of things that go on in these so-called respectable environments, you must lose faith in the idea that there is such a thing as human decency. It must make you distrust institutions, that is, if you do not share their outlooks.
We have to acknowledge that despite the tremendous strides women have made to earn respect as humans with equal rights, dirty old men continue to ravage them without a care in the world. From the time a girl hits puberty, she is a target.
Cassie was 21 when she started dating Coombs, who was effectively her boss. Coombs was 32.
It’s universal. It’s prevalent here in the Caribbean—Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago… up and down our chain of islands—incest, rape, molestation of every kind is perpetrated on boys and girls.
I am refraining from citing any of the several instances I know of personally, but I am confident that everyone reading this will be able to associate it with someone they know.
We can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.
What I am railing about now, what I have been railing about for years, is why people don’t stand up for what is right.
Weinstein once bragged that he had Lawrence sleep with him to advance her career.
Lawrence was 21 at the time. Weinstein was 57.
You see, here’s the thing that seems to define the way those in positions to act respond. Let’s say we are talking about someone who wields power, someone who belongs to an institution, someone wealthy—what is uppermost in the minds of the people entrusted to provide oversight?
At best, they want to protect the image of the institution, so they opt to turn a blind eye, and worse, cover up the deviant behaviour.
They forget that an institution is a collection of humans—it is part of a society, and people inevitably find out what goes on in its underbelly. So, even if you try to confine the knowledge to what you consider to be a select few, you cannot control the way information seeps out.
You cannot shape the thoughts of people, and when they lose respect, there is no coming back.
I know it is human nature to protect the self—to look out for job security, to be afraid of victimisation, to prefer not to rock the boat. But therein lies the strength of the ones in power.
They understand that self-preservation overrides any other consideration, and silence is golden. That’s why the old boys are so heavily invested in ostracising those who speak out.
It’s one of the reasons I did not last in an institution. I could not avert my eyes. Neither could I mask my loss of respect for the people who were meant to look after the well-being of its employees and the organisation.
I rail because the fallout is far and wide. It’s not just the people you think you are protecting; it is the people who are being damaged by their proximity to the nastiness.
This culture goes back forever. Men have devised ways to wield power that are appalling and disgraceful. Women have been considered mere objects to satisfy desire.
Kelly was since convicted sex trafficking, racketeering, child pornography and enticement of a minor.
This culture of casual creepiness is thriving, in some places it exists underground, but in the hinterlands and isolated interiors, it is endured as a dreary state of existence. It leaves deep scars, and distorts the nature of a person exposed to its violence and abuse.
Once again, this beast that lurks within our societies has reared its grotesque head. It is a beast that has been fashioned by years of savagery and disregard for human life.
Indications are that the instinct all around has been to cover up its presence; to rally around under the bizarre notion that if it is hidden and its monstrous existence denied, everything will fade away as it usually does.
There has to come a time when we stand up and say that worthy power lies in speaking out and condemning it.
Have we not seen enough to tell us that dirty old men breed dirty young boys?
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Vaneisa Baksh is a columnist with the Trinidad Express, an editor and a cricket historian. She is the author of a biography of Sir Frank Worrell.
