Stop Making Sexual Harassment a Partisan Issue. Now!
Over the past couple of weeks, the public has learned about Harvey
Weinstein’s decades-long illegal,
disgraceful, abhorrent, and grotesque harassment and assault of women. Similar
to Hannibal Buress’s outing of Bill Cosby as
a serial rapist, this was one of Hollywood’s dirty little not-so-secretive
secrets.
While the public appropriately
reacted to the reports of Weinstein’s abuse with revile and disgust, the
partisan tweets arguing whether his behavior is more akin to Bill Clinton’s behavior or Donald Trump's behavior does nothing but dilute the message
that sexual harassment and assault must stop, and it must stop now.
Roger Ailes, Dov Charney, Bill
Clinton, Bill Cosby, Mark Foley, Bill O’ Reilly, Bob Packwood, Clarence Thomas,
Isiah Thomas, Donald Trump, and so many more powerful men thought – and think –
it was acceptable to coerce and take advantage of women (and men in the case
of Mark Foley) simply because these men possessed power. There are
certainly different degrees of harassment
and assault, but none of them are OK. Perhaps, one of the most disturbing
statements from Weinstein was his excuse for
his behavior that he “came of age in the 60s and 70s, when all the rules about
behavior and workplaces were different.” Are you kidding me? Sexual harassment and assault were never acceptable. The fact that there was
a culture that permitted, even encouraged, this behavior does not equate to it
was acceptable behavior.
Also, while the focus has been on these powerful men, sexual
harassment and assault are not limited to
the rich and famous. These are just the ones that make the headlines. Sexual harassment
and assault exist across all levels of management,
in all industries, in government agencies, in the military, in the United
States, and throughout the world. Moreover,
it must stop.
Stopping sexual harassment and assault needs to be the
discussion, not whether one side of the political aisle is more to blame.
Sexual harassment and assault are in no
way, shape, or form relegated to democrat or republican, black or white, or
Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or atheist.
So, stop arguing about whether Weinstein is more
Clinton-like or Trump-like. Simply stated,
they are all wrong.
There have been many brave women who have confronted the men
who have harassed and assaulted them. Among some of these women are Ashley
Alford, Paula Coughlin, Carla Ingraham, Lois Jensen, Paula Puopolo, Mechelle
Vinson, Rena Weeks, and Carmita Wood. Do you know who they are? You should.
Also, reverse sexual discrimination is on the rise. By no
means do I intend to minimize or condone women in power harassing or assaulting
men. “Men, as well as women, are entitled
under Title VII to protection from a sexually abusive work environment.”[1]
Rather, the takeaways
are simple:
- sexual harassment and sexual assault are never OK; and
- the discussion we need to have is how to stop sexual harassment and sexual assault; not which side of the political aisle has the bigger misogynists.
