The seal of the United States Marine Corps

There is such an abysmal spectrum of disrespect and insensitivity these days – from Housing Secretary Ben Carson ignorantly calling slaves “immigrants” to the vicious attacks on Jewish cemeteries – that it’s hard to know what to write about first. Certainly, there’s no shortage of blog material screaming for fresh outrage. But today’s ire must be reserved for Marines United sharing nude photos of women and lewd, derogatory comments on Facebook.

As someone who writes homoerotic novels, I appreciate a nude – especially a male nude – as much as the next person. And I have little interest in what consenting adults do in private.

But this isn’t about sex or passion. And it’s certainly not about romantic love or an aesthetic appreciation of the body. It’s about control. It’s about power. It’s about men abusing power to try to control women, in this case male Marines trying to control female Marines, whom they no doubt resent for joining the Corps.

It makes me so angry that I wish these women would sneak into men’s rooms and scrawl these guys’ phone numbers under the heading “For a great time, call….”

Because one thing about men: They can dish it out, but they can rarely take it.

The whole thing is disgusting, and it has colored my attitude toward the military. It has certainly made me less sympathetic to the military. And that’s too bad, because most of these people put their lives on the line for us.

What’s to be done? The top brass need to send a resounding message of intolerance for this behavior by prosecuting these people to the fullest extent of the law. Viewing and using this content, posted against the will of those victimized, is a military crime.

Maybe that will give these cowards something to think about.