Lingerie lessons learned

By Joe Couto and ChristianWeek | January 1, 2008

You can learn a lot about someone by taking a look at that person's home, desk or office.

Most of us, on a subconscious level, tend to express ourselves in our surroundings. My office features a messy desk (I subscribe to the "chaos management theory") and loads of family and soccer-related photos (my twin passions). I also have the state flag of Texas on my wall—a souvenir from a trip south.

My messy desk is more reflective of too much work than a messy mind; my Texas flag has more to do with a love of George Strait's country music than any affection I have for the job that other famous George from Texas is doing in the White House.

Because we subconsciously project ourselves into our personal surroundings, we need to be careful how we express ourselves. Souvenir beer bottles from a buddy's bachelor party are probably not the image you want to project to your clients—or your pastor when she drops by your office unexpectedly.

In light of this, you have to feel sorry for James Moore, the young Conservative MP for the B.C. riding of Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam. Just before Christmas, Moore found himself in the middle of a firestorm for what appeared to be a photo of a "scantily clad woman" on his laptop (which Moore brought into the House of Commons).

The largely unknown Tory MP suddenly was being cast as a cad in every national media outlet in the country after NDP MP Irene Mathyssen fumed about the photo, which she described as a woman wearing a "skimpy negligee kind of thing."

Mathyssen frothed puritan indignation, proclaiming that she felt this is "not only disrespectful of women, but it's disrespectful of this House. It reflects an attitude of objectifying women, and we know that when women and other human beings are objectified and dehumanized, they become the objects of violence and abuse."

Poor Moore looked like his puppy had just been run over. Worse still, the allegation was made in the lead-up to the 18th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, in which a lone gunman killed 14 women at a city college.

It turns out that what Mathyssen saw was a photo of Moore's girlfriend, not a collection of soft porn. Chastised, she quickly issued an apology.

This whole mess serves to indicate not just the obvious—that Moore should have known better than to lug his laptop into Parliament containing racy photos of his girlfriend—but also offers a caution to those self-righteous blowhards and killjoys on the left of the political spectrum.

Moore, a former radio show host and broadcaster first elected in 2000 at the age of 24, is the youngest person to be elected to Parliament in B.C. history. At the ripe old age of 31, it seems he made a simple mistake. Let's hope Moore will take a good, hard look at issues of appropriate public behaviour, particularly when he's on taxpayers' time.

But let's not let Mathyssen off the hook here.

The MP for London-Fanshawe understandably expressed outrage at the objectification of women—and good for her. Women do not deserve to be portrayed as brainless Paris Hilton/Britney Spears types. By all means, let's have MPs leap to their feet to defend women, men, children, seniors, disabled persons, citizens and non-citizens victimized because of their race, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, etc.

However, respect is a two-way street.

Unfortunately, Mathyssen and those smug do-gooders on the left are usually first on their feet, only to find that they've left their brains behind. On climate change, poverty, the economy, whatever issue you choose, too many of them sound a lot like those right-wing "extremists" they so like to vilify. They too often condemn the views and behaviour of others because they don't fit neatly into their worldview. This is largely behind what's driving today's media-sanctioned anti-religion hate literature and movies like The Golden Compass.

What Mathyssen should have done was approach Moore privately with her concerns. A simple conversation would have prevented an ugly national incident and maybe taught Moore something about proper manners and behaviour. Of course, that would take courage and integrity—two things in short support in today's political climate.

So here's some advice to both silly politicians and secular zealots: grow up and put down those stones, especially since you live in the glasshouse world of politics.