In November 2016 we voted into the presidency a man who bragged about grabbing pussies. It wasn’t a proud day for everyone, as countless column inches have proven.
But in the time since that occurred, something semi-remarkable has come to pass: no less than 8 men of power (Cosby, Charney, O’Reilly, Weiner, Weinstein, Bolling, Ailes, Kalanick) have been publicly taken down for abusing their positions with regard to female employees; and it is unlikely that this is the end of the line.
Sexual abuse is an omnipresent feature of corporate society: it isn’t just American, but it is predominantly male. And most women just suck it up because to not do so is to jeopardize our careers, livelihoods, and reputations. See: the sun setting on Mira Sorvino’s career.
The fact that some of the most powerful women (and men) in the world have been victimized only serves to underline how pervasive and ingrained this behavior really is, but make no mistake: this is as about as classless and intersectional an experience as women will ever meet.
That we silenced ourselves so completely that we voted into the presidency a man who openly bragged about doing this, is beyond depressing. But it also might just have served to finally wake the angry bear. This is our Red Pill (yes, irony understood). For centuries, women have been groomed to quietly accept inappropriate behavior as the basic price of doing business. Finally, it feels like the cauldron of self-blame and self-doubt may have — MAY HAVE — been tipped into a catalyst for action.
But here is the thing, it will be easy to forget this Weinstein story in a month or two. After all in our current click-driven media cycle, how many people are still talking about Cosby? But will the girl alone in a meeting room with the male colleague just down the hall, instinctively rearranging her responses to his inappropriate remark, forget just as quickly?
So instead of absorbing, processing and returning to the status quo, instead of dialing into flight vs. fight, ask yourself: am I willing to do anything?
Because whether it is setting diversity goals, creating forums for people to discuss their experiences, educating people about the signs and the lines, practicing the art of saying no, of saying something, of opening a blind eye, the time to do something is now.
The time to expose it — and to use common language to fight it — is today.
For us, the Weinstein scandal brings to mind Harvey Milk’s strategy: the act of coming out. The side effect of gay society coming out en masse was to expose us all to the larger existence of social intolerance. Tomorrow, history won’t remember Weinstein’s victims “coming out” as much as they’ll remember the exposure of a pervasive tolerance of what can at best be called the male gaze.
If we can all escape our nihilism long enough to actually commit to making a meaningful change in the near term future, it won’t take much to end the dinosaurs. But this will only happen if we start talking about the fact that this happens. To us all. And acknowledging that it is not ok. And it is not simply the price of women doing business, not anymore.
We love you.
