Ever heard of Harvey Weinstein?

On October 5, 2017 the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke and it remains in the news as of the publishing of this blog posting.  A timeline of the events can be found here and related scandals can be found here.  So imagine my surprise when I attended an event just last week and heard a man at the podium use the following line as an ice breaker:

"A man's speech is like a woman's dress.  The shorter the better."

When I heard this I exchanged a concerned look with my dining companion but I'm not sure how many people noticed the inappropriateness of this remark.  A few minutes later, another speaker took the podium, this time a woman,  and she jokingly referred to the length of her own skirt in an apparent nod to the earlier speaker's comment. 

I get it.  Sometimes we search the web for a throwaway line or icebreaker to begin our remarks.  If it's related to public speaking or self deprecating, all the better.  But for heaven's sake, take a second look at something before you include it in your next presentation.  Even though this particular quote is a variation of Winston Churchill's, it doesn't make it right.