4 in 5 Swiss artists face sexual harrassment

John Borstlap says:

It differs with every area. Generally speaking, in the north of Europe the female harassment treshold is quite high, because they know that in the emancipation war they are slowly winning, so they can get back at the males in the near future with revenge harassment. In the garlic belt however, it’s mainly the men who are harassed, a tradition which begins in early youth through the domineering role the mama plays within the family clan. In Sicily for instance, the emancipation movement is about men, and they form underground gangs to defend themselves against overwhelming feminine pressures, and don’t shrink back from violence, blackmailing, money laundring, etc. etc. The first truly organized gang was set-up in 1805 by Alessandro Maffi, whose name has been connected to the movement since.

In a small eastern area of the Wuerzenburgerwald there is an isolated European community where no harassment ever takes place, and it is therefore a famous tourist destination with theme park and museum about the place’s history. Anthropologists from all over the world regularly visit the community to find-out why harassment has been overcome so early in history in a restricted environment. The reason appears to be the ‘Weiberschmelzschenschwab’, a folky tradition stemming from early medieval times, which encourages gender fluidity, so that suppressed femininity in males is ventilated in psychologically safe contexts. It’s part of the local maturing trajectory, unique in Europe. Between ca. 1345 – 1507 it was the only place in Europe where males could marry each other, be it only temporarily until they were ready for a female. Divorce however was strictly taboo and extramarital adventures punished by burning at the stake untill 1786.