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MOVING ON WITH THE CONVERSATION Sexual harassment applies just as much to the college-aged woman as to anyone else. It’s time to take a more in-depth look. When victims started coming forward in October 2017 — and kept coming and coming and coming — most women breathed a sigh of relief, with some even stepping up to tell their stories of sexual harassment. After so many years of having to endure threats, taunts, inappropriate language, groping and so much more, they felt safe enough to join other women as they shared their similar experiences. Finally, an issue affecting many women today — and yesterday — was getting the attention it deserved. Since those jaw-dropping revelations published by The New York Times about film producer Harvey Weinstein became public, the list of men who have been accused of sexual harassment has continued to grow and grow. Stories told by the original “Silence Breakers,” who Time Magazine called the voices who launched a movement, seemed to embolden other women to speak out and call out their abusers. It’s hard to say how many men are — or have been — sexual harassers over the years. (Some say it has gone on since the beginning of time.) While the media continues to report allegations about high-powered men in areas of industry, the media, restauranting, entertainment and politics, there are countless average guys who are just as guilty as men with power. “People need to take this moment to make clear that this is not just about Hollywood,” Anita Hill, a professor of social policy, law and women’s studies at Brandeis who testified before the Senate in 1991 in Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearing that he had sexually harassed her when she worked as his assistant, recently told The New Yorker. And she’s right. While the celebrity names may have gotten us to pay attention, it is the women’s voices that are helping to change the conversation. Shortly after the Weinstein fallout, #Me Too and #Times Up became the platforms and rallying cries of most women everywhere. The message to put it simply: “Women will no longer be silent about experiencing sexual harassment.” Women have had it with men (or other women, for that matter) who not only cross boundaries, but don’t seem to know that boundaries exist. They’re sick of it all — the fear of retaliation, the fear of being fired, the fear of men (and sometimes women) forcing themselves on them. “Anyone in power, male or female, can somehow forget
Crescent Magazine | February 2018
that sexual authority over a subordinate is not a professional perk,” Karen Firestone, chairman and CEO of Aureus Asset Management, told MSNBC. But this is not just about workplace harassment. College-aged women, who have not yet had much workplace experience, can be sexually harassed in the classroom, while working out, online and in social settings. And there has been confusion on what people consider sexual harassment to be. Since each person views things differently, it is hard to pinpoint what crosses the line. Most know that being sexually explicit in actions and language is not acceptable. But there are other physical and verbal acts that might not be OK, either. For some, a hug is just a casual thing, but for someone else it is an uncomfortable experience. The same can be said about a wink, a whistle, blowing someone a kiss, invading someone’s personal space and other touchy-feely interactions. When something is considered harmless to one person but uncomfortable to another, where is the common ground? It is hard to find suitable commonalities for something one person sees as a sign of friendliness, but the other finds as inappropriate attention. Mary Schmich, a columnist for the Chicago Tribune, wrote in an October 2017 piece that the term “sexual harassment” wasn’t even in use until the 1970s, when the problem became so obvious that it needed a name. Fast forward to November 2017 when a Quinnipiac University poll found that 60 percent of American women said they had been the victims of sexual harassment in some way. While some of the accused, especially those with just an accuser or two, have denied the accusations against them, they are damned if they did/damned if they didn’t. There is a lack of fairness in some of this, even though an October 2017 poll done by NBC News/Wall Street Journal showed that 58 percent of men between the ages 18 to 34 have begun to rethink how they interact with women. Regardless of the worries and the things not yet figured out, the movement needs to stay strong, and men and women, no matter the age, need to talk to each other about what is acceptable in all settings. If we have a clear line of what is considered sexual harassment, confusion would be much more unlikely, fears would be put to rest and it just might stop.
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