no, the pence rule is not "rape culture."

EDIT: I removed a footnote. Two, technically. They didn't really contribute to this post and someone noted that the post may be better without them.

The Passover Seder, which is a sort of combination of meal and religious service, includes the retelling of the story of Exodus, with lots of added commentary from various Rabbinic sages. One of the sections that has always fascinated me involves the plagues that God unleashed on the ancient Egyptians.

We're all familiar with the Biblical account that features ten plagues? Rabbi Yosi the Gallilean notes that those plagues were referred to as being the finger of God, and that at the Red Sea ;the Egyptians faced the hand of God. He interprets that to mean that there were fifty plagues at the Red Sea. Rabbi Eliezer one-ups him by arguing that each plague was fourfold. So those sixty plagues (ten in Egypt and fifty at the Red Sea) were actually 240. Not to be outdone, Rabbi Akiva wargues that each plague was fivefold, so they total 250. I have long found it fascinating to read the eagerness to see who can interpret God's wrath in the most extreme way.

That passage was on my mind in light of Mike Pence's personal rules of conduct and the outraged hoo-hah that accompanied. Pence won't dine alone with women other than his wife, and won't go to functions where alcohol is served unless his wife is with him. Cue the outrage machine. All women are temptresses! All women are is temptresses! This is misogyny! And he's a hypocrite to boot, since he works for a man with...uh...looser standards for behavior toward women. And it seemed like all these commentators were jumping over each other to see who could denounce Pence in the most extreme way possible. The culmination (for now, AFAIK) comes from Ashley Csanady who, writing for Canada's National Post, argued that Pence's personal rules of conduct are "Rape Culture" at work.

Give. Me. A. Break.

I don't follow Pence's rules for life, but they're his rules and that's between him and his wife. He's not trying to tell others how to live. And to be clear, if you think that, with his other actions and opinions, he's trying to tell others how to live, then address those issues. Don't pin it on a nonissue like this.

In fairness, there has been one argument against his rules that has some merit. That's the fact that, in a world where so much is based on personal relationship and bonhomie, not having dinners with female colleagues puts them at a disadvantage professionally. And, yes, that is unfair. I don't know how, for practical purposes to overcome that. But insisting that Pence can't or shouldn't have this personal rule is not the answer.

Avoiding such situations is not misogynistic. It's not implying that women are all sirens, waiting to drag men to their ethical doom. But it is a recognition that humans are humans and temptation is a powerful thing. Even if you know you can stand up to temptation, it can still be better to avoid it. And that's not even addressing the potential for rumors and innuendo.

But all that aside, the argument that this is "rape culture" ( a term that, gets applied so broadly as to be virtually meaningless) is simply delusional. Csanady's argument, stated concisely, is:

The explicit reasons for Pence’s restriction are religion and family, but the implicit reason is that he must avoid alone-time with women lest his stringent religious moral code fall apart in the presence of a little lipstick and décolletage. That is rape culture.

I've known couples whose marriages fell apart because of infidelity. And said infidelity started with temptation. One partner was alone with someone else. And they gave into temptation. But rape wasn't involved. Consensual sex was. It's Csanady who makes the mental leap to rape. Essentially assuming that men are monsters and/or women lack sexual agency.

As I stated above, I don't live by Pence's rules. I have had dinner alone with women other than my wife -- sometimes married women even. And I haven't cheated on her. But I don't fault anyone for imposing this extra rule of conduct on himself or herself. The outrage is simply another attempted gotcha at an administration that people hate.

You want more Trump? Objections like this are how we'll get more Trump.