I've been following the stories about sexual harassment at my alma mater, and today a woman, married with five kids, who had complained about her boss to little avail, came forward publicly to describe her anguish and frustration. She got a strong response once she finally filed a lawsuit. I'm a woman, so I know this harassment is rampant, and I've heard many stories over the years, as well as experienced sexism in the workplace a few times. Like battering, or date rape, the culture sympathizes with the perpetrator not the victim. We learn early to not make a fuss, and that if we do, we will be blamed for the way we talk, dress, behave. I'm not sure in our own supposedly advanced culture, we aren't awfully close to believing women flaunt their sexuality just by having breasts and lips and vaginas. We are the biblical seducers, and men are helpless in our clutches. I'm not buying it.
Sexual harassment is about power, not sex. Just as rape and battering are. Are we a society that prizes gender equality? We pay lip service to it, but we don't see much hard evidence. And those in power desire to stay in power. They often don't think about it consciously, they just behave as if their impulses and desires are all that matter.
So good for this brave woman for speaking up about an elephant in the room, and I mean every room in the country. Women want to work in a professional manner, and not have pressures added on top of the work load. We are tired of being worn down by "jokes" and comments about our dress or physical attributes. We want men to grow up and act like adults instead of out of control little boys. I hope every woman speaks up when this happens and then other women will know it's not them, it's the system, and there are millions of us to rally with them.
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