At first glance, this scene appears to be a very common high-society performance: a VIP (Grace Jones) presents another VIP (Sir Tom Jones) with an award. Both are famous singers, but of course only Tom is a really gifted voice, whereas Grace Jones perhaps became more prominent because of her tremendous physical appearance.
The event took place in 2012 at the presentation of the GQ Men of the Year Awards, about 6 years before the hype around the MeToo movement took pace. Grace Jones thought it would be a funny idea to add to the offical award to Sir Thomas (as is his offical title since beeing knighted by Elizabeth 2) a little personal gift. As a reference to the many sold-out stage performances by Tom Jones, during which his female fans used to take off their underwear and threw them onto the stage, Grace Jones did the same and gave the speechless Tom a pair of her black knickers.
OK, I really don’t see any reason for a moralizing, derogatory judgment against Mrs. Jones. And Sir Thomas is an old school British gentleman, and he captured this scene with a good sense of humor. Who knows, where Mrs. Jones slip ended up, whether Tom Jones respectfully placed them on the wall of his sitting room, framed among all the other awards, or whether he used them instead to polish one of his expensive luxury cars.
What would be interesting, however, is to imagine the same scene, 9 years later, with reversed roles: That Tom Jones, as the event moderator of an awarded Mrs. Grace Jones, on stage and in front of the cameras presents her a few of his worn slips (in the case of Sir Thomas these would perhaps rather be string tangas).
100%, Sir Thomas would be branded on social media as an arrogant macho, a misogynist and chauvinist who ridiculed talented female artists. His record company would end all contracts with him, his concerts, if not canceled, would be boycotted, and maybe there would even be some public LP burnings. Some TV chanels might still be courageous enough and invite him for an interview, but only to squeeze a grueling public apology out of him. MeeTo finally had another prominent trophy to add onto the success list.
But we have to admit, that a woman is considered strong and self-confident when she distributes her underwear in public, but a man in an – assumed – similar situation is immediately and mercilessly pilloried. So men have to keep their sense of humor, while woman invented MeeTo instead.
Quot licet jovi. non licet bovi.
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