When someone opposite your sex DMs you, introducing themselves, you two may briefly exchange messages, they may carry on the conversation a bit, and your immediate implication could be that this engagement entails something sexual. If this becomes the default sentiment with people you haven't met, especially when you followed them on Instagram or something (this is commonplace for musicians), the networking aspect/benefit of Instagram will suffer, and this inherently restricts the possibility of collaboration. It's one thing to keep with the times, but now the once viral disapproval of assumption that was so prevalent in the early 2000s, making the Ass of U and Me, can't seem to counterbalance the more intense scrutiny in the wake of the #MeToo movement. Some of these outcries lack coherent action points and only serve as token acts, in the same manner your retweets or likes don't automatically feed malnourished people in the Third World.
This thinking can make for a horrible, unclear scenario for innocent individuals who very well are socially inept. Most people have been drawn to songs like "Creep" or "How Soon is Now?", but is that appeal directed only towards individual reflection or self-deprecation (humorously), not to other individuals? The fundamental error comes in confusing someone's creative persistence as romantic persistence. They may not be acting socially appropriate despite well-mannered intentions. Appropriateness as a measure of ethics is wrong for the following reason; right and wrong have been the same for thousands of years. Yes, evolving cultures have changed our attitude towards certain aspects over time, but actions like murder and theft have always been reprehensible, whereas kindness and charity have always been accepted. There's a pretty robust sense of consistency about right and wrong, which is another reason it's well-accepted. Conversely, appropriate and inappropriate has to involve the setting. The action of drinking isn't particularly right or wrong, but would you rather be drinking at 9:00 AM or 9:00 PM, and is it a wise idea to get blasted with infant cousin instead of a close friend? Appropriateness, versus right or wrong, is fluid. It could take some of us the time of our 18th birthdays or later to adeptly notice the difference. Still, while we're to be vigilant of sexual harassment where it occurs, we shouldn't leave individuals longing to just have a mere social interaction dismayed at their impressions.
To my fellow artists. Keep open minds as well as hearts. This is how we're meant to deviate from the herd.
