Reverse Sexism

To the Editors of The Crimson:

This letter is in reference to the April 1 letter of Ms. Emily R. Sharp. I agree with Ms. Sharp that the behavior of the police personnel in question was wrong, but I do not agree with her implicit condemnation of them as men. Perhaps Ms. Sharp was insulted, which seems reasonable as she did not seek out the attentions of the detective in question, but I think she is wrong in her implicit indictment of the fact, and it is fact, that males are attracted by females no matter how much the females may not want to be attractive to them.

In this day and age of the vulnerable and non-aggressive male it is difficult to say no to another in a long line of complaints about us men by women who seem to even distrust us for being the side of the human species we are. I agree that it was wrong for you to be treated as you were by the detectives, Ms. Sharp, but I cannot agree that the incident is another case of men not acting as they should, perhaps a la Dustin Hoffman, but as they must because, after all, they were men.

I am not a sexist male nor am I into macho chic, neither do I harass women because they are weak or merely available. As I am not an extreme or extraordinary person, I cannot help but believe that there are more like me who are guilty only because we are males. As a member of the Harvard community, I apologize for the behavior of our police toward you, Ms. Sharp, but I cannot apologize for the fact that men, and these detectives in particular, did not act as you would have, so it seems, a "well-trained" male act. Just as you would not have all women at the mercy of lusting men, so do not put all of us males in the position of thinking that there is something wrong with us when the issue revolves about taste and not whether we should act less or more than we have been socially and/or biologically made to act toward you, the opposite sex. Anthony G. Desangles '79