Women everywhere face pigs
MEDIA REPORTING of multiple sexual harassment and assault charges against Harvey Weinstein reads like pulp fiction. This might be a tale that Hollywood itself would turn into a blockbuster movie, if the movie industry cared to show the full horror of sexual harassment and assault.
In reality, though a tale full of boldface names and beautiful people might seem far away from most of our lives, this is really the story of everyday women. The lessons we learn from this — through the lens of an industry that craves publicity but loathes transparency — can and must be applied more broadly throughout American society.
Certainly there are ways in which the Weinstein scandal appears unique to the entertainment business. Charges of sexual extortion, sexual assault and rape deliberately concealed by some and ignored by others signal systemic failure that stems from a disregard for women. It would be naïve to think this bears no relationship to the particular ways this industry packages and profits off of female sexuality and limits women’s opportunities to direct and produce content. But the lessons we take from this tragedy have huge implications beyond the entertainment world.
There’s a reason, for many women, the stories of Weinstein’s alleged and admitted misconduct read like chapters in their own lives. Take for example two recent scandals in the tech industry, long thought to be a seat of progressive idealism. In February, when Susan Fowler published a blog chronicling her struggles at Uber, many other female employees weighed in exposing the company’s toxic culture of harassment and indifference to their complaints. The climate at Uber was a reflection of its CEO’s offer responses that blame the brash style. persons raising the claims, often
He later resigned his position in the name of protecting the institution’s under pressure from investors. brand. Mistreatment of women in Silicon Many have pointed out the fact Valley came under scrutiny that secret settlements, which required this year, when numerous female Weinstein accusers to entrepreneurs described in vivid keep quiet, effectively exposed terms the sexually predatory behavior more women to his lascivious and of the tech industry’s venture sometimes criminal over the capitalists. years. Indeed, Weinstein’s corporate
The question for those women board seemed to fail utterly in is whether Weinstein’s story will its oversight on matters of sexual help society understand their sexual misconduct. They tolerated and harassment claims. sought to manage the problem,
Since 1991, when I testified rather than seek to put a stop to it about my own experience with Companies founded and led by sexual misconduct at Judge Clarence powerful men often effectively Thomas’ confirmation hearing, put chronic sexual harassment by I regularly hear from individuals men in a separate basket, as who have attempted to stop though it was a “personal problem” the abuse they face. rather than a serious business
Some of those women worked one. for charities, politicians, religious Imagine decades of rumors organizations, businesses and that Weinstein was an embezzler. schools that appear to promote Would his boards have shown the equity and fairness. Yet in far too same level of disinterest and inattention? many cases, institutions actively When does indifference fight substantiated sexual harassment amount to enabling? The questions and assault claims, provide answer itself and the catastrophic cover for abusers and in some cases results of the board’s flawed thinking speak for themselves.
Similar indifference or hostility to sexual harassment claims plagues other industries that suffer from the same blind spot. According to Joanna Grossman, author of “Nine to Five: How Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Continue to Define the American Workplace,” as many as 50% of the very few people who actually file formal sexual harassment claims experience retaliation from employers.
And unlike Weinstein’s accusers, the stories of those who do file claims will rarely make the pages of local, let alone, national outlets. The question we must ask ourselves is whether, despite their relative anonymity, their harassment matters to us as a society.
This is a critical moment. It provides us the opportunity, in fact the obligation, to finally look seriously at the sexual harassment that 45% of employees — mostly women — in the private workforce say they experience, and recognize how culture contributes to sexual misconduct in workplaces and how bias that gets baked into our policies.
In addition, public and private institutions must diversify leadership, engage those who care about equity and finally give more real power to those who have experienced inequality firsthand in order to stop devaluing women. And greater accountability throughout the complaint investigation processes is imperative. Where alleged offenders are company leaders, hiring outside, independent investigators is the only way to get trustworthy results.
It has been 26 years since a public conversation on sexual harassment began following my testimony. Despite a generation growing up hearing that sexual harassment is unacceptable, it clearly remains a plague.
This time, concrete ways in how we think about harassment and the way we react to it must follow.