Moral Degeneration

Some people were still streaming inside of the building. The three of us joined the line at the tail end. I started scanning the people but didn’t recognize anyone. I knew Anastasia and Ava were there. I was curious if anyone else I knew was. 

 

We walked into the discussion hall. It was quite large. More of a classroom setting than anything. A few hundred seats in the middle of the room. Stairs on either side of the room led down to a few podiums. 

 

There were 4 lecterns. 3 of them had women behind them. They discussed cordially with one another. On a blackboard behind them was written ‘Gender Inequality’. I rolled my eyes. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. 

 

The seats were well filled. I guessed about 75% so about 200 women there. I did a quick scan but didn’t see who I was looking for. 

 

“It’s about time to start,” A larger heavyset woman at one of the lecterns said. “Why don’t you all grab a seat.” 

 

I eyed Willow. She had been looking for Ava as well. I was usually good at scanning a crowd. With my lower height I was having trouble seeing above those in front of me. After another prompt from the speaker we moved over and sat down. 

 

“Thank you all for joining us,” the woman said. “For those of you who don’t know. I am Doctor Liz Stanton.” She was older. Probably in her 50s. Some gray streaks in her hair. White pantsuit. Heavyset but hiding her ample cleavage. 

 

People quieted down as she kept speaking. “For those of you in my classes, I thank you for joining us. I would like to introduce the other speakers. First I want to thank my good friend, Gloria Hurst. Author of the book, The Pox and freeing of the Patriarchy.” She pointed to a woman next to her. She was much older than Liz. Perhaps in her 70s. Rail thin she wore a simple blouse and skirt. 

 

“Our neutral party today will be Jackie Taylor. The local director of the Department of Longevity. She was nice enough to accept our invitation for this event.” Liz pointed to a younger black woman. Her hair was curly and puffed out. She wore a black suit like any other fed. I wondered if Agent Reels was in the crowd. 

 

“And I hate to say it, but Professor Livings has denied my request for a male participant in the debate. As have all male commentators I have tried to book.” She pointed to an empty podium. 

 

“At this point I’d love if any male was willing to speak and try to show their side of this debate,” she said. My heart began to pound as a smile split my face. 

 

Standing up I gladly announced, “I volunteer!”

 

My offer was met with stunned silence. Taking off my coat and hat it was easy to see that I really was a male. Wearing some jeans and a simple brown T-Shirt I was a little underdressed. This sounded too fun to pass up though. Also I could see everyone’s faces if I was at the front of the room. 

 

“What the fuck are you doing?” Willow hissed. 

 

“Having fun,” I said. Without waiting I made my way past the girls and started heading down to the front. 

 

I felt the eyes and heard the whispers all around. But I couldn’t help but feel excited. I knew it was something I didn’t want to fight. There was a reason I had traveled all over the world. Searched for excitement in life. I got off on it. The adrenaline. Doing something new. It was what I lived for. 

 

No normal person would want to get in front of a group of women and be the enemy. This was a chance I couldn’t pass up. Not only to get points across but get my name out there. 

 

At the front I noticed a familiar face. “Agent Reels, so good to see you,” I said with a wide smile. I could easily see the frustration in her gaze as she registered who I was. 

 

Without waiting I moved to the empty lectern. A bottle of water already set up for me I opened it and took a sip. My hand calm I studied the women of the class. This time I saw one right away. 

 

Anastasia was near the front. Back in her thick black makeup and clothes we locked eyes. I gave her a wink and she blushed. Smiling widely she only had eyes for me. 

 

I went back to searching and noticed Ava near the center of the group. She stared at me with a death glare. My tan and dark haired beauty ground her teeth as she ignored girls beside her. 

 

“I’m sorry, who are you?” Liz asked. 

 

“Oh right,” I said. “I’m Russ Willard. I’m not a fancy doctor and I’ve never written a book or gone to college. I go to high school. But I’ve got a dick so I think I meet your requirements.” I flashed a smile. A few girls giggled. 

 

“This is quite a surprise,” Liz said. “But I hate to admit, it is a good one. I never thought a man would join us for this debate. Can I ask why you’re here?”

 

“Oh I wanted to check it out. A friend I live with has been dodging my calls,” I said looking to Ava. “I heard she was coming here, so I thought it was best to come here and find out why she hates me.”

 

“Whatever brought you I am glad they did,” Liz said. “Are there any issues with Mr. Willard joining us?” She asked the others. The other 2 didn’t have a problem with it. 

 

“I will be the moderator for this discussion,” Liz announced. “I will direct questions to each speaker. You are allowed time to justify your point of view. Then rebuttals are allowed.”

 

“Any questions?” Liz asked. 

 

“This is my first debate,” I said. “Please be gentle.” I couldn’t help but make jokes. My heart pumping. My confidence never higher. I felt like I was on the top of the world as I had so many women staring at me. 

 

There were a few chuckles and they began. 

 

“The first topic is Gender in relation to the Justice System,” Liz said. “Jackie, let’s start with you. Why are men likely to receive less than half the prison term for the same crime as a woman?”

 

Jackie was well spoken on the subject. She brought out statistics of home lives for men versus women in relation to their household income. In the end I had forgotten what the question was. As Gloria gave a rebuttal I eyed the girls staring at me. 

 

It was at that point that I realized I was wrong. I wanted to go to college. There were all different kinds of women giving me the eye. Black, white, Hispanic, I wasn’t sure if they were all beautiful or as a whole they were. I wasn’t shy about studying their figures. 

 

These were all women that were in their sexual prime. 18-22 years old. There were some outliers like Agent Reels and I assumed some mothers of students. But overall I wanted to get to college. 

 

High school was easy for me. I had the knowledge of an adult. I was starting to come up with a plan for how to skip grades and get to high school sooner. I could take an IQ test. I bet I’d do well with that too as long as it didn’t deal with history. 

 

Picturing a giant orgy of the masses with these girls Liz finally called upon me. “What about you Mr. Willard? What are your thoughts on why men are sentenced to less sentences?”

 

“I thought it was obvious. They make sperm. I mean we all know they probably cut deals with the government. I know you ladies all gave some nice statistics, but it comes down to men are rare. It’s not right or equal. Though men have all the opportunity. They are stupid enough to still mess up and break the law.”

 

I was silent for a moment. Liz stepped in. “An interesting stance. I had assumed you would try to justify the current due process for men in the prison system.”

 

“Oh no. Men are dumb. I recently met one and he didn’t know how to work the microwave.” Anastasia laughed loudly with that information. She knew it was her brother I was talking about. 

 

The debate went very slowly. Liz touched on gender stereotypes, fertility, the importance of a 2 mother household, and gender roles in decision making for laws. I learned a lot. Gave nice short and sweet answers. Eventually she directed a question to me. 

 

“Mr. Willard, what are your thoughts on the current state of Gender Roles?”

 

“As far as the roles of men not contributing to society? Nothing much,” I said. 

 

“Explain, please,” Liz said. 

 

“I haven’t been here long,” I said. “I’m still learning a lot. I was locked in a cabin for most of my life. I didn’t see the outside world until 3 weeks ago.” That gained some whispers around the room. “But I’ve seen quite a bit. One of the things that shocked me is 89% of people haven’t met their fathers.”

 

“Yes, I know. Crazy. I know a statistic. I wish to thank Ava, Dylan, and Brittney for telling it to me,” I said pointing at the 3 in the center of the crowd. They had told it to me when they interviewed me some time ago.

 

“Despite the fact that 4% of those that meet their dad is because they almost bone him is hilarious. It’s not right.”

 

“Gender Roles aren’t really a thing for men. They have no role in the current lives of the generation they sire. They cum and dump. Drop a load and hit the road. They O and go…wait wait I got another…umm damn I lost it. Either way they have no responsibility to make sure that the life they made will prosper into a well functioning adult. Again it is left to women to fulfill all the roles. So that is my answer. Gender roles aren’t a thing. Men are the donators. Women are the providers, caregivers, discipliners, and pretty much everything a fully functioning adult needs in their youth. Whether they do it alone or with their own wife.”

 

“Very well said,” Gloria said. “What do you propose to do to fix such an issue?”

 

There really hadn’t been too much back and forth between the speakers. I preferred the question than the monotone facts they had been spouting. 

 

“I doubt it can be fixed,” I said. The room was quiet. “Not now anyway. It should be fixed in the home with the next generation. I was told that boys can call their local DOL office and report any issue they might run across. One called because one of his moms grounded him.” I laughed. “The first thing I would do is get the government out of the home. Let parents be parents. Let them teach their sons and daughters what they need to know to survive. Not walk on egg shells so they don’t piss their kid off.”

 

“Then I’d hold boys and men accountable for their actions,” I said. “All I’ve seen is boys being coddled and treated like they’re special. We aren’t special. We are dumb. If someone doesn’t tell us the problem. We don’t know there is one.”

 

“Men used to fight wars, build countries, fight for what they believed in. We aren’t supposed to be babied and taken care of. We are expected to be thrown in with the wolves and come out as the alpha. And we are supposed to do all that because it is in our blood to show off to girls.”

 

There were loud laughs with that. “I’m serious,” I said with a smile. “The Trojans fought a war for years just because Paris thought Helen was hot. Men should be making fools of themselves and doing dumb things to gather the attention of girls.” I studied the women. No one was stopping me from talking so I kept going. 

 

“I introduced a boy and a girl today,” I said. “They had sat by one another for years. They both liked one another. But the boy was too afraid to talk to her. He is still too afraid of any woman to go up and talk to them. He should have spent his youth around them. Trying to impress and get their attention. Not taught to fear what an older woman can do to him. If things stay the same way for him then he will turn 18 and never be comfortable around a girl. He might sign up for the pregnancy donation. Treat the whole process like a transaction. Only doing the bare minimum to keep receiving money and benefits.”

 

“He should be out there. Out here,” I said. “Talking to women. Not be scared to have a conversation. Not be scared that when he does have a kid, it’s okay to be in their life.”

 

“And what about you?” Professor Stanton asked. “You say you see these problems. Will you add to them?”

 

“Of course. That’s all I do is cause problems. But I never met my father. I am the 89%. And I doubt I will be part of that 4% that tries to bang him.” More laughs. “But I do plan to meet my kids. I doubt it will be enough to change that statistic. But enough to hopefully change my daughters lives a little.”

 

I looked at the crowd. I was serious. Reels had stopped her angry stare at me. Anastasia still flashed me a smile. And Ava was gone. 

 

“Shit,” I said into the microphone. I looked up to where Willow was sitting. She was gone too. 

 

“It was fun ladies. Gotta go confront my friend. Reels I’ll do my best not to cause trouble for you. Anastasia, darling, I’ll call you,” I said, giving them both a wink. I ran to the stairs and started running. Halfway up I received some applause but was already out the door.