It could only be your daughter

I never watch Vandaag Inside and this week it became clear again why. Johan Derksen felt the need to concoct a story to demonstrate how different the spirit of the times is nowadays. And Derksen got what he wanted: a lot of criticism and an investigation on his hands. But I was still shocked by the reactions.

It was almost a relief to see the massive uproar surrounding his statements. Derksen tried to soften things a bit, but that naturally didn't help. Derksen explained it as follows: ‘It was such a huge thousand-hour candle, on such a large pedestal. They were very popular back then. We placed it between her legs. It stood up in the air. I did not penetrate her with it. But it remains uncivilized. But I wanted to show that the zeitgeist was like that. Now you get skewered for it.’

His explanation made me even more nauseous than I already was, but that was (unfortunately) still not what surprised me in the story. I was mainly in shock by the other reactions on social media. Women (!) who wrote that women should not be so sensitive. People who found it ridiculous that Derksen was put on the pillory for something like this. The woke movement had won, wrote someone else. I can hardly believe it. Is this really how people of flesh and blood see this?

I wonder how the woman in question feels now. That terrible morning when she woke up is all over the news. I wonder what her mother thinks about a bunch of men doing this to her own daughter. Did she say to her then: ‘Don’t worry too much, child, this is just the spirit of the times?’ I can hardly imagine it. Just like I simply cannot conceive that you defend Derksen, calling it a slip-up in so many hours of live TV. This is not a slip-up on national television, this is crossing the line, no matter what zeitgeist you place it in.

Derksen claims he wants to show that he has had wild years. ‘Technically, a public prosecutor can explain this as rape,’ emphasizes Johan Derksen in the first broadcast. Fortunately, the Public Prosecution Service did not have to think about it for too long, as the case is now under investigation. So much for Derksen and his wild years. And to everyone who thinks it’s all not that bad: it could be your daughter.

Image: Talpa