Anyone who has ever received death threats knows how destabilizing, distressing and invasive it is.
The leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, should not have to justify having lost his means by speaking about the threats that targeted his family.
You have to be strong to cry
We can debate for a long time whether or not it is appropriate to preserve the privacy of a public figure who is going through difficult times in front of the cameras.
The truth is that for too long men have been made to believe that crying is a sign of weakness.
As a result, countless men end up exploding, unable to contain the flood of emotions that they refuse to manage, the excesses of anger as well as the immensity of a distress which snowballs into childhood to adulthood.
An essential vulnerability
In recent months, we have seen many elected officials denounce death threats.
No insults, no disagreements. Death threats.
How many tatas responded that we didn’t see that before the greater arrival of women in politics?
How many idiots responded “you have to build a shell”, “it comes with the job”, “if he isn’t able to take the heat, he just has to give up his place”?
Well no, exactly.
It’s not part of anyone’s job to receive death threats.
This will never be acceptable.
If you find that this is normal and justified “because politicians don’t listen to the population”, get help! You are worse than you think.
God knows I don’t share the political ideas of Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, but in the circumstances, that doesn’t matter.
You have to be strong enough to admit vulnerability in public. It’s not embarrassing, nor weak, nor shameful, it’s human.
It probably makes him a better politician.