We should all despise bad men. But when did all men become bad?

An Indian low-cost airline has now put in place a policy that gives credence to a sentiment that has been steadily stewing across our communities and infusing our political debate.

IndiGo has decided to allow women travellers to choose not to sit next to any man.

That means, when females check in online, they will be able to view which seats have been booked by other women.

Men, on the other hand, reportedly, will be able to see which seats are empty; they will not know the gender of those that are filled.

Trust lost?

It’s only one decision by one company – but what it screams is so much bigger than that.

With more than 2000 domestic and international flights daily, IndiGo is spreading the word that no man can be trusted, and they all deserve to be treated as such.

Why aren’t we arguing that this is discriminatory?

That it is unfair on those good sons and brothers and fathers and grandfathers who take pride in the achievements of their female peers and who do not deserve general condemnation for the sins of a few?

This isn’t about women-only gyms, or even women-only train cabins. This is saying we don’t know which men we can trust, so let’s distrust every single one of them.

Bold call

Wouldn’t it be better to embolden women, particularly the vulnerable, to call out any bad behaviour?

In recent research I’ve found a real and genuine reluctance in teen girls and young adult women to call out the bad behaviour of their male peers.

Could it be that they are not learning how to do that?

That students, particularly from all-girls schools – and I am a big fan of that school model – struggle with the bad behaviour of young male adults at university or in the workplace because they have not been schooled in how to deal with it?

Angry reaction

But there is a bigger issue here too. Pointing the finger at every young male has created an angry mentality, where we are seeing young men demand the space they used to own.

And that’s given rise to incredible levels of support, among young men in Australia, for the extremism of misogynist influencers like Andrew Tate.

Perhaps Donald Trump too. Forget his politics for a moment. This is a man who has described women as crazed, dogs and low lives, as having big asses, being bimbos, fat pigs, chubby and ugly.

This is a man who said if Hillary Clinton can’t satisfy her husband, how could she satisfy America? Or that men needed to “push back on these women’’.

Trump once said: “If you admit to anything and any culpability, then you’re dead. You’ve got to be aggressive. You’ve got to push back hard. You’ve got to deny anything that’s said about you. Never admit.’’

Damning stats

And at parties this weekend, in Melbourne and Brisbane and other Australian cities, young men will be wearing caps seeking to Make America Great Again. Few of them are interested in politics; it’s the evangelism of Donald Trump that appeals.

Mostly in violent or sexual attacks, men are the perpetrators.

That’s not in dispute. Indeed, an Australian Institute of Criminology report last week found that almost a quarter of Australian adults had perpetrated sexual violence – and they were more likely to be men than women.

But that doesn’t mean all men are perpetrators. And while the public discourse encourages that view, our daughters will struggle to stand their ground.

And that small proportion of men who deserve no one’s respect will find they have a following that will only embolden their behaviour.

Perhaps it’s worth taking a risk if you fly IndiGo.

You might end up seated beside one of those good men; the sons and brothers and partners most of us have that are being tarred with a brush none of them deserve.