X Why? - Why are men pigs*?

This week, we are looking at that age old question, why are men pigs?  That question has so many layers and avenues.  It is like asking,"How do you perceive time?"  It is very personal, deep, multi-themed, and sometimes, contradictory.

This convoluted question needs to be clarified with another question, what type of "piggish" behavior are you asking about?  Do you mean living in a pigsty?  Are you asking about man's desire to be piggish and wanting everything?  Are you wondering about men's gross behaviors like farting on each other and pull-my-finger jokes?  Do you question why men crave certain deviant sexual needs?  Is your question going into a completely different way?


Men have so many piggish behaviors that I can't answer them simply.  It would be to easy to recite the fable of the scorpion and the frog and blame man's nasty ways on human nature. 

A scorpion was at the bank of a mighty river and wanted to cross it, but couldn't since he was unable to swim.  He saw a frog who is about to swim across and asked, "Frog, may I ride across the river on your back?"


The frog filled with shock and fear said, "No, you are a scorpion and you will sting me while we cross.


The scorpion replied, "That would be suicide since if I stung you while crossing we would be both drown."


The frog thought about that and then reluctantly agreed to carry the scorpion across.  While in the middle the deepest and fastest flowing part of the river, the scorpion delivered a fatal sting to the frog.   As the they start to sink, the stricken frog asked, "Scorpion, why did you sting me for now we both will die."

The scorpion sadly replied "Because, it is my nature to sting.  I am sorry."

That fable is too simple to answer all the questions about man's bad behaviors yet maybe there is a kernel of truth in it.  It is in our nature to do these things.  The important thing to acknowledge though is that while all men have some form of piggish behavior, we don't all have the same piggish behaviors.

In the future, X-Why? will try to answer the why men exhibit various types of bad behavior.  For today, let us focus on one bad behavior that is still too complicated to simply answer, but hopefully can illuminate - Why do men sexually harass unknown women on the road?

This question came from Ann.  Ann is a professor at a local university.  She commutes forty miles per day to get to work.  In her five years since starting there, she has had three uncomfortable vehicular encounters with men while driving down I -80.

During her first encounter, she was driving along when a guy pulled even with her car, matching her speed, and kept staring at her.  She tried speeding up, but he matched her speed again.  She slowed down and so did he.  She changed lanes and he dropped in behind her.  Finally, she quickly took an exit at the last second and he was not able to follow her.

On her second encounter, a guy pulled along side her and holds a sign in his window.  It read, "Call me!  My number is XXX-XXX-XXXX"  He followed along for a bit then took an early exit.

The third encounter happened just last week.  She was driving along and this guy pulls along side of her and holds  up a sign, "Excuse me, just looking...".  He then took down the first sign and put up a second one, "... for an exhibitionist."  At this time, he lifted up his bare leg way high and smiled at her.

All three stories are creepy and the men were pigs.  As stated earlier, this is not a piggish behavior of all men and can't be attributed to all of us, but it was still wrong.  The exhibitionist/stalking nature of these acts are obviously wrong, but that is not the sole reason for their badness.  It is also their intimidation and forceful ways while doing it in a way that they have a quick escape. 

The third guy had a silver pickup, but had removed all badges and brand names from it.  It had no front license plate.  The only way to identify it was the rear plate, which he made sure she never saw.  The second guy, while the least offensive, sped away when she sneered and flipped him off.  (Kind of dumb to give a number to track you by).  The first guy was especially scary since he stalked to intimidate her.  He had a fast car and she was in a slow Toyota.  He knew he could use that as a tool in his perversion as well.

This need to be able to remain anonymous while boldly stating what they want shows these men had desires they could not fulfill through healthy avenues.  These desires may have been based out of  sexual, power-based, and/or fear motivations.  All three wanted to use surprise and intimidation as their shock tool and then wanted to see the reaction of the victim. 

Many social scientists state that rape and sexual intimidation are not sex based.  These behaviors are based in power, domination and control issues.  The sexual aspects are purely the ends to the mean, not the purpose it self.  I disagree.  I think it has a strong sexual component where this is the way they get their sexual kink satisfied.  They can't feel arousal through other means and this is their avenue to sexual satisfaction.  I don't discount the other motivations of domination and power projection.  All of these things combine into a complex and sick concoction of a hateful crime. (On a side note, I wonder why social scientists try to remove the sexual motivations of rape.  Is it to protect the identity of sex?)

So, why do men stalk women on the road?  It is their unhealthy sexual need that mixes surprise, intimidation, and shock to scratch their primal itch.  It is a deep-seeded instinct that needs attention and they are genetically programmed and culturally encouraged to use this method to get their needs met.  I am guessing they have some basic belief that this system of approach will work and the woman will eventually acquiesce to their desires.  At the very least, the fear and shock of the victim is stimulation enough to give them the sexual and physical satisfaction they need.   I am disgusted by these type of men since they reward their problems and inflict fear through cowardly and indirect ways (No.  I am not condoning active/direct sexual harm and violence.  I am stating they are cowards for not approaching their sexual needs in a positive and healthy way or getting help for their issues.).  Sadly, that level of involvement will not be enough in the future and they will probably escalate to darker methods.

This progression of sexual behaviors is a common part of male identity**.  At first, we dream of our first kiss.  After that, our first touch fills our desires.  We continually want more and deeper experiences as our sexuality matures.  In healthy men this continued desire for new and deeper sexual enjoyment is healthy and good for all involved.  In sexual predators, it is a disease and needs to be confronted and treated.  I have no problem with life-long incarceration if the treatment does not work.

I highly recommend to anyone who has been the victim of any type of intimidation to report the incident to the police.   These men are dangerous and you deserve your legal protection from them. 

*My first question wonders why we have to implicate the poor pig in this?  Pigs are intelligent and much less complex and disgusting than men.  I guess humans love assigning relationships to all behaviors, so the pig must suffer for it.

** ... and will be written about here, ad nauseum.