Dr. Word says: Putting your hand up a woman’s dress is not a sexual “advance”

by David Safier

Call Dr. Word old fashioned, but he thinks when a man who has no prior sexual relationship with a woman puts his hand up her skirt "toward my genitals" then "pushed my head toward his crotch," that constitutes sexual assault. So why does the AP headline read,

Woman accuses Cain of bold sexual advance

The first paragraph repeats the "advance" depiction of the incident:

Leaving little to the imagination, a Chicago-area woman on Monday accused Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain of making a crude sexual advance more than a decade ago when she was seeking his help finding a job.

A bold advance is a strongly worded come-on. It's "Hey, baby, want to hook up?" or something like that. When a man makes a sexual grab at a woman, then pushes her head toward his crotch, that's more than an advance. Hell, it's more than sexual harassment. It's literally forcing yourself on her sexually.

True, this is an allegation made against Cain, not a statement of fact. But the headline is clear about that: "Woman accuses Cain." "Advance" is far too polite a euphemism for the actions Cain is accused of.