“Which red-blooded male hasn’t sexually harassed somebody?”

Erika Brunson

Another group affected by the ongoing sexual misconduct scandal is the Humane Society of the United States, which just lost its CEO and a chunk of its board in the wake of harassment allegations from several women. But the guilty will always have their defenders, even if it’s people you’d think would know better:

Explaining the board’s decision to retain [former CEO Wayne] Pacelle after an hours-long telephone meeting, one board member, Erika Brunson, 83, said in an interview that she was aware only of what she called a “ridiculous” old accusation against him regarding an alleged affair.

She said Mr. Pacelle had “done nothing wrong.”

“Which red-blooded male hasn’t sexually harassed somebody?” she added. “Women should be able to take care of themselves.” On Friday, Ms. Brunson resigned from the board.

Huh. Guess I can’t be “red-blooded”, then. Though, I look at my arms and the veins are clearly blue^*, so maybe that explains it.

Toxic masculinity is bad for everyone: it encourages men to behave like emotionally repressed misogynistic dinosaurs, and it harms women by asking them to accept such behaviors as normal. They aren’t.

* I know.