The Culture of Sexual Harassment

Chapter 16 of the textbook focuses on civil rights throughout American history in addition to the current state of affairs for multiple marginalized groups in the US that are still far from reaching that totally equality that they have been fighting for for decades. One major civil rights group that has been fighting for equality throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries are women. Despite gaining the right to vote in 1920, it is undeniable that women in America still face discrimination in many aspects of society. More specifically, women are constantly facing sexual harassment in the workplace from their male superiors, and are oftentimes silenced with the threat of losing their careers. While this has been an important issue that needs to be addressed, it was not given the platform or attention that many women’s rights activists had been advocating for.

Things completely changed in recent weeks, though, when more and more women came forward accusing prominent men across professions and political parties of sexual harassment, bringing a newfound awareness of how common and widespread sexual harassment is in the workplace. These men include Harvey Weinstein, Bill O’Reilly, Louis CK, Roy Moore, Al Franken, and today, Matt Lauer was fired from “The Today Show” after being accused of sexual misconduct. These men represent political views across the political spectrum, showing that is problem goes beyond ideologies, and all people are responsible for ensuring that this behavior is not tolerated and eliminated from the workplace. However, this punitive stance does not apply to all of these men. While O’Reilly, Weinstein, and Lauer have been removed from their respective high-profile positions, Roy Moore continues to campaign on the Republican ticket and has gone unscathed by the White House, which has the power to dismiss Moore for his predatory behaviors.

President Donald Trump has been especially problematic in this issue. Not only has he not condemned Roy Moore, he himself has been accused by multiple women of sexual harassment, and has called for them to remain silent during his presidential campaign. In addition, the release of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape has in on record bragging about sexually harassing women. This is problematic for women’s rights in America because this behavior is being tolerated and protected by the executive branch of the federal government, creating a more dangerous environment for women, as the actions of their assaulters are okay in the eyes of the President.

Sources:

https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/sexual-misconduct/nbc-news-fires-today-anchor-matt-lauer-after-sexual-misconduct-n824831

http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/21/politics/donald-trump-roy-moore-alabama/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/08/business/harvey-weinstein-fired.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/bill-oreilly-is-officially-out-at-fox-news/2017/04/19/74ebdc94-2476-11e7-a1b3-faff0034e2de_story.html?utm_term=.b493ac0297fc

8 Responses to "The Culture of Sexual Harassment"

Stella Von Spreckelsen says:

November 29, 2017 at 8:49 pm

This is very good blog post because it is so relevant to right now. It’s not that sexual assaults in the work place is a nuanced thing, it’s that hundreds of women have found the confidence to speak up and let the world know how disgusting these once well-respected and powerful men are. I believe this “me too” campaign and all the women brave enough to speak out on these sexual assaults is so amazing and world altering. The fact that our own president has been accused of sexual assault from I believe 16 women is outrageous because he is supposed to lead our country and be a role model for citizens. As you mentioned, the sexual assault happening specifically in politics is not partisan. Al Franken is a democrat and was accused of sexual assault and Roy Moore is a republican and was accused of sexual assault as well. It becomes even worse when our president only denounces the democrat. It makes sexual assault seem so partisan when it clearly occurs cross parties. Like you said, Trump has the complete power to denounce Roy Moore and not let him run for election but he has chosen not to say anything which is so disturbing for our country and shows how human rights issues always become so partisan.
Marcin Jerzewski says:

November 30, 2017 at 3:50 pm

Your blog post tackles a very important issue related to our discussion of equality in the contemporary United States – how sexual harassment and sexual misconduct allegations are playing out in politics? I believe that the case of Roy Moore is particularly interesting, and it was important to see it in your piece. Moore’s decision to continue his participation in the Alabama Senate race has caused a split within the Republican Party. Notably, Mitt Romney twitted on 11/10, “Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections. I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside” (https://goo.gl/mMpV56). Nevertheless, possibly due to the razor-thin margins in Congress, the Republicans may be quite desperate to keep this seat, despite the controversy related to the Alabama candidate. At the same time, I find it rather surprising that despite the scandal, polls indicate that Roy Moore still enjoys a relatively strong support in the state of Alabama. The most recent poll (https://goo.gl/FRNg7S), conducted by JMC Analytics on 11/28-29, finds that as partisan preferences have reasserted themselves, Roy Moore has regained the lead he lost in the last poll and currently has a five percentage points lead over his democratic opponent. This is a very significant finding, as it serves as evidence that partisan polarization continues to be a powerful force in American politics. In Alabama, party identification and partisan loyalties is apparently the most important attitude that influences the vote. Ethics and background of a candidate may matter more than the fact he is associated with a particular party. Perhaps the strong support for Roy Moore is also associated with the outlet which broke the story – the Washington Post. The audience of the Post has traditionally been more consistently liberal, and thus, many Republicans distrust it as much as they distrust other “liberal elite media.” If this is the case, I would find it very disappointing. Victims of assault should not be denied credibility because of their political convictions or affiliations.
Helen Spiller says:

November 30, 2017 at 7:33 pm

I entirely agree with your post regarding sexual assault. Sexual assault has become something of major significance in recent news with all the powerful men recently being accused. However, I would draw upon the main question being here is when does morality become more important than politics. Like you mentioned with Republican Roy Moore, far too many politicians and people in power have turned a blind eye to these horrendous acts of men in politics in order to maintain power. Articles written in the NY Times write, “Why Trump stands by Moore even if it tears apart his party.” But, this happens far too often that people realize. Trump is willing to turn a blind eye to win the vote in Alabama. For Trump and many people around the world, politics are more important than morals.
And, like you noted, sexual assault is not something that upset too many Americans considering Trump was elected. Trump openly spoke about violating women yet so many Americans did not think that was significant enough of a fact for them to not vote for him. All in all, I think the main question you need to be asking, and that seems to be showing today, is that morality seems to be second tier to winning and power in the world today which, at least to me, is an extremely depressing thing.
Yanbin Zhang says:

December 2, 2017 at 11:29 pm

It’s really a urgent time to discuss the issue of sexual harassment in the society. As the most prevailing and important series of events recently, it has become an issue beyond sexual harassment itself and beyond any field of the society. It’s a great honor how much we achieved fighting for women’s rights in our country. Since 1960s, NOW devoted decades of effort to fight for the equal opportunity for women in workplace and equal treatment and made huge progress generally. It is now still divided to say how much we have done for the gender equality. According to recent survey by Pew Research Center, 69% Democrats believe we should do more about it while only 28% Republicans agree with it.
But one problem emerged as the releasing of these sexual harassment. Providing equal opportunity for women in workplace has long been the center of attention in the issue of women rights. But the discrimination based on practice, rather than government laws and regulation is now the most severe problem for women rights. Even if women now have equal access protected by related laws, they are easy to be the target of discrimination in practice for any industries and fields. Those predominant men with power and privilege could easily evade responsibility of sexual misconduct. It’s really thought-provoking to think about why Weinstein was accused 30 years after 50 women been his victims. Such status discrimination in a industry poses a question to those victims —- report him, or get a better career in return. It’s really horrible and unhealthy in practice in any field of the country. And it’s obvious really hard to be controlled by a specific law. So it requires more victims to speak out for themselves and for the society as a whole.
Grace Miller says:

December 3, 2017 at 4:17 pm

I agree that the recent exposure to the breadth of sexual harassment especially in the work place, has been very beneficial. When considering how frequently this happens in high profile jobs, it worrying to even consider how frequently it must happen in minimum wage jobs where there is even less job security and less protection of the victim. However I disagree with your statement that “things completely changed in recent weeks,” because the issue of sexual harassment is far from over. For example, Anthony Rapp recently did an interview where he discussed the negative social media attention, and the harassment he has received since coming forward with the information on Kevin Spacey sexually harassing him. I think our country is beginning to move in the right direction in the sense that the recent exposure of many famous individuals may help more victims come forward, but how we treat those victims needs to drastically shift. The fact that there are so many Americans that do still believe electing a pedophile to office is the lesser of two evils, and the fact that the White House has not only refused to condemn, but has supported Moore, proves that our country has a long way to go before fixing the culture of unwanted sexual advances in the workplace.
Jackson Krase says:

December 3, 2017 at 4:25 pm

Your blog post does an excellent job of highlighting an issue that has been at the forefront of the news agenda in the past couple of weeks.What started with the Harvey Weinstein scandal in Hollywood has now distributed across the country in alarming numbers, bringing down many high-profile names in the process. While these allegations should not be taken lightly and are revolting in nature, the underlying causes at play here will not change unless meaningful energy is put into unmasking the pervasiveness of this behavior. While it seems like everyone is talking about sexual assault now, I feel like very few are talking about it in meaningful ways. Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis) decision to mandate anti-harassment training among members of the House is a step in the right direction, but much more is needed to see any notable improvement as a whole. By firing a few bad apples, companies, political institutions, and other sectors are not targeting the underlying roots of inequality and objectification in the workplace.
However, that is easier said than done when the problem itself has found manifestation among active members of Congress. Information released by the Committee on House Administration revealed that the House of Representatives paid out just under $360,000 in sexual assault settlements over the past five years. Mind you, that is $360,000 of taxpayer money that could be spent in areas such as education or addressing poverty. In addition, as of right now Roy Moore, who had both credible and revolting allegations of sexual molestation made against him,
currently sits atop Democrat Doug Jones in the Alabama senate race polls forty-nine to forty-three. Thus, sexual assault is no doubt one the darkest and most hidden secrets in all of Capitol Hill.
With the politicization of sexual assault, there is the opportunity for the topic to become diluted with political rhetoric. As was mentioned in the comments, sexual assault traverses both sides of the aisle. Despite numerous calls for his resignation, Democratic Senator Al Franken seems to not be going anywhere after allegations arose of him inappropriately touching and groping women. This is after Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ousted Representative John Conyers after four allegations were made against him. The main reason Nancy Pelosi did this was that Conyers, who is the longest serving House member, 88 years old, and wears pajamas to work due to his deteriorating mental health, is not viewed as a useful asset to Pelosi anymore. As sexual assault becomes a bargaining chip and a matter of what status and position you hold, the future of any reasonable change seems doubtful unless a new approach of looking at the problems is adapted.
Stephanie Hughes says:

December 4, 2017 at 12:15 pm

Over the past few weeks, many high-profile figures have been accused of sexual misconduct in the workplace. This has illuminated an issue that has been ruminating for decades in Hollywood and on the Capitol. The number of public servants accused of this sort of misconduct is alarming to say the least. What started with Weinstein evolved into a large-scale “outing” of sexual predation toward women in professional environments. The initial Weinstein allegations and the support the accusers received encouraged more and more victims to come forward with accusations. Something that has clearly been kept secret from the public is finally being exposed. The fact that these elected officials have deceived their constituents and are holding public leadership roles is a reflection of the systemic sexism that women face in the workplace by their superiors and peers. Your point about our President was extremely important. This morning, Trump endorsed Roy Moore on his Twitter account. A Republican vote on the tax plan is not reason enough to allow a sexual predator (who is banned from a shopping mall) to continue serving as a leader in our nation. We need to be better than that.
Declan Horrigan says:

December 8, 2017 at 7:04 pm

I think your blog post illuminates an issue that we haven’t really touched much upon. I would like to focus on the Donald Trump aspect of your post. I believe that Donald Trump’s campaign and presidency are some of the biggest problems surrounding sexual harassment in this country. This is a bold statement however I think the biggest reason women feel uncomfortable and don’t stand up for themselves in the time of harassment or don’t come forward after being victims of sexual harassment is because they feel that they have no power. They feel that what is happening is okay, they feel that no one will take them seriously and that nothing would happen to the perpetrator anyways. The largest reason for this is because they have seen people in power who degrade women in ways to make them think this. Donald Trump is the largest example of this. All of the things he has said and has done During his campaign and presidency have been giant steps back in the struggle for equality for women, especially in the area of sexual harassment because he has made women feel all of those things that I just mentioned, which is perpetuating sexual harassment.

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