Jim Wallace’s call for zero tolerance of sexist men was both timely and interesting. Since it’s common for cases of men blatantly disrepecting women to be big media stories (the examples Wallace points to are all good examples of this: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and Donald Trump’s on-going issues) stories about men who are making a change, or who have a more enlightened point of view, often get ignored.

There’s a big contingency of men out there today who respect women and treat them with dignity. I think of the men I’ve interacted with in college settings, graduate school, and past jobs, and although I can point out cases where I felt discriminated against because I was a woman, I can also point to a great community of men who obviously like women, treat them as colleagues and partners, and want to have positive relationships.

Perhaps we can think of it as a positive development that men being respectful isn’t news. It may be an indication of the changing standards we use to judge how men and women should be treated and treat one another. That said, it’s obvious that sexism exists. Wallace’s piece points out that this is still a huge problem. However, I do want to tip my hat to the men out there who do have understanding and respect for women.

I’m interested in hearing other’s thoughts about Wallace’s article. How do men feel? Do they think that the good behavior and positive role modeling that’s already happening is being ignored? There also seems to be a difference in the way power can corrupt men and women, or at least in those stories we hear about. Stories about women who behave badly (have affairs, harass and disrespect men) don’t seem to be as evident. Are women in power being corrupted the same way and we’re just not hearing about it? This type of discussion is what will allow us to start rebooting the way we talk and think about gender roles.