MeToo?
I guess this kinda all started with Bill Cosby. It was brought to light but always implied that men with power use said power to garner, coerce, force, and/or assault women. This is nothing new as it has even been glorified in movies and television over the years. Bill's situation was different...there were "allegedly" drugs involved and numerous women came forward. But why did it take so long for these women to come forward with allegations from as far as 30 years ago? Because they got compensated and once the money ran out...then they were victims. No I'm not trying to justify what he did in any capacity but the question has to be asked....did they put themselves in positions to get paid? The media has labeled some of them as innocent encounters but many of them are "in his hotel room", "at his house", "in his dressing room". There seems to be an air or naivety or complicity to some of these stories and alot of these women don't strike me as naive.
This would be a good time for me to pause and say, I don't know what actually happened in any of these encounters but I want to look at this from an objective perspective. One of my biggest issues with the movement is the lack of due process. The accusation is carrying more weight than proof while I also understand this lack of proof stems from the men being in a position of power which hinders the women from coming forward. Those conditions being what they are, the absence of proof has created a circumstance where an accusation is enough. This is putting men on the defensive as an accusation can be damning enough.
Where is all of this coming from....I was once accused of sexual harassment which was investigated and proven false. But not before I lost my job and my reputation. It was very enlightening to see how simple everyday interactions could be viewed in a sexual manner through the eyes of a harassment claim. By the time the smoke cleared, the damage was already done. I never knew what my accuser's intentions were but it was quite effective and changed my workplace mannerisms for many years. I have since also witnessed situations where men are preferred for employment over women in the workplace simply to avoid the possibility of sexual harassment claims. Anyway, back to Bill...
So all of these women have accused Bill but they waited too long and they law is no longer on their side. Why did they wait so long? Then came Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Louis CK. All of these men used their positions of power to take advantage and/or sexual assault women. I'm not speaking of those guys because due process has been done or they have simply admitted to it. But here's the flip side. Due to the actions of these men in power, some men are more likely to be perceived as guilty when accused because of their positions of power. Again, without any evidence or the more likely scenario, the re-imaging of an interaction or situation between the two.
I am just offering a change in perspective which should be just as valid as most other perspective. We need to stop settling into a default understanding of this situations just because they have similar factors at work. Take this list for example:
https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/weinstein-celebrities-sexual-misconduct.html/?ref=YF&yptr=yahoo
The fact that Nelly and Pevin where simply accused but placed on the list with the others speaks to my point. I know there are a number of women who have genuinely suffered at the hand of sexual predators in power but in order for this movement to stay strong, there has to some definition and restraint to being accused and being condemned.
This would be a good time for me to pause and say, I don't know what actually happened in any of these encounters but I want to look at this from an objective perspective. One of my biggest issues with the movement is the lack of due process. The accusation is carrying more weight than proof while I also understand this lack of proof stems from the men being in a position of power which hinders the women from coming forward. Those conditions being what they are, the absence of proof has created a circumstance where an accusation is enough. This is putting men on the defensive as an accusation can be damning enough.
Where is all of this coming from....I was once accused of sexual harassment which was investigated and proven false. But not before I lost my job and my reputation. It was very enlightening to see how simple everyday interactions could be viewed in a sexual manner through the eyes of a harassment claim. By the time the smoke cleared, the damage was already done. I never knew what my accuser's intentions were but it was quite effective and changed my workplace mannerisms for many years. I have since also witnessed situations where men are preferred for employment over women in the workplace simply to avoid the possibility of sexual harassment claims. Anyway, back to Bill...
So all of these women have accused Bill but they waited too long and they law is no longer on their side. Why did they wait so long? Then came Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, and Louis CK. All of these men used their positions of power to take advantage and/or sexual assault women. I'm not speaking of those guys because due process has been done or they have simply admitted to it. But here's the flip side. Due to the actions of these men in power, some men are more likely to be perceived as guilty when accused because of their positions of power. Again, without any evidence or the more likely scenario, the re-imaging of an interaction or situation between the two.
I am just offering a change in perspective which should be just as valid as most other perspective. We need to stop settling into a default understanding of this situations just because they have similar factors at work. Take this list for example:
https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/weinstein-celebrities-sexual-misconduct.html/?ref=YF&yptr=yahoo
The fact that Nelly and Pevin where simply accused but placed on the list with the others speaks to my point. I know there are a number of women who have genuinely suffered at the hand of sexual predators in power but in order for this movement to stay strong, there has to some definition and restraint to being accused and being condemned.
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