“It was normal back then!” Sexual Harrassment and Sexism was wrong back then too.

The good old times. "In our days, it was normal!” 🤷🏼‍♀️
"Those were compliments back then!"

How tired I am of this rhetoric to excuse older men’s sexist behaviour. But how do we respond when we are told that we can’t be too harsh with old men because sexual harassment and objectification were normal back then?

Recently, a well-known German talk show and game host, Thomas Gottschalk, shared how challenging it is today. He said he'd never share an elevator alone with a woman these days because, who knows? When the doors open, she might cry #MeToo. 🙄

He admits that today he wouldn’t touch women the way he did on his shows back then, but only because what was once 'normal' is now politically incorrect.

Like:

- Touching a woman's knee during an interview.
- Telling her boyfriend, "It must be nice waking up next to a pretty thing like that!" as she (the pretty thing) sits right next to them.
- Asking the boyfriend for permission to hug and kiss her— without ever asking her.

By 'politically incorrect,' what he really means is that he can’t keep his 'good guy' image while sexually harassing women. He can’t profit or build a career off it anymore because other men won’t openly support him— not because it’s wrong, but because women are finally in a position to call it out.

What a shame… you can’t be openly sexist anymore without facing consequences.

So what can you say when someone claims that back then it was accepted behaviour so you should let it slide?

It is simply a convenient lie. At no point in history did all women agree it was acceptable to be sexualised and objectified.

Organised groups to fight against sexism and misogyny existed back then too. So clearly it was known that women did not want to be sexualised and harassed on or off stage.

Good old times indeed. And clearly Gottschalk didn't learn a thing.