Remember
when President Trump said, “grab her by the pussy” in a video interview? Let’s
never do that—you do not see women going around grabbing men by their precious
jewels. This is not a joke, do not become a wolf from Wall Street—sexual
harassment is not okay.
“Sexual
harassment is a continual problem. It has been with us for a while, even before
the concept of sexual harassment was created, and it is something that limits a
person’s sense of comfort and advancement,” stated Katherine Lehman Ph.D., self-identified
feminist, chair and associate professor of communications. According to a New York Times article, “40 per cent of women
still say they experience sexual harassment at work. When they risk coming forward,
many of them are either enticed or forced into private settlements outside of
the courts by employers who want to avoid a public reckoning. Thanks to private
settlements, we confront a very tiny sliver of their stories.” This is to show
that America’s culture will not evolve
if our employers cannot ensure that the repercussions for such actions will not
be handled behind closed doors. Destini Torres ’17, a feminist majoring in sociology and
communications commented, “I think it is unfair to men and women—because it
happens to both—and all genders, whether they fit the gender binary to
experience something like this because they did not ask for it to happen.”
Some of
us have read about the Bill O’Reilly scandal, through newspaper articles,
memes, or videos floating around the internet. The 21st Century Fox star
who apparently generated more than $446 million in
advertising according to The Atlantic.
Through the decades, O’Reilly has been accused of approaching and calling an
African American woman in the office “hot chocolate,” while grunting like a “wild
boar,” and he has offered multiple unwanted sexual advances and lewd comments
to a woman producer on his show, even resorting to phoning her while it sounded
like he was masturbating while describing various sexual fantasies. He
suggested than a woman buy a vibrator and engage in phone sex or a threesome
with him. He also, openly spoke about his very colorful sexual encounters,
which in a sense, forced his coworkers to listen to it. These are not including
all the racial comments that he has made on his show over the years. In
addition, to cover his ass, he threatened to make any woman who complained
about his actions pay for even dreaming about voicing their opinions. Even though
it is pretty late, and O’Reilly has accumulated a fan base over the years, the
issue was resolved—however the
methods of resolution are questionable.
“I have
been concerned about him from the beginning in terms of his public persona and
what he says about women, minorities and just his general brand of hate speech.
I think it is a triumph that Fox News finally let him go, but I understand that
he received a $25 million-dollar severance package,” commented Lehman. Can this
be considered a win, or will he be able to get a job elsewhere even after such
a case has been issued against him? Only time will tell, but I hope no one else
is forced to suffer by his hand at any other workplace in the future. “We have
other high profiles cases with people in power with similar records and
allegations who were not disciplined. So, we can’t look at this case and think
that finally, something has been done. It is also chilling that someone could
get to this point of power and authority having so many incidents and
allegations against them,” reasoned Lehman. According to an article from the New York Times, “Buried in Fox’s
contracts with its employees is fine print saying that they can’t bring
lawsuits against the company in court. Instead, those disputes have to be
settled by a private entity with the details kept private, too. If some victims
are lured into settlements, arbitration ensures others have no choice.
Arbitration tilts the tables toward the employer: Employees win only about a
fifth of the time in such a situation, about half as successful as in federal
or state court.”
According
to an article from the New York Times,
“at least five women
have received payments from either him or Fox that together total about $13
million, most of which were never previously made public. Many of the payments
have come with agreements that the women won’t speak about what happened to
them.” Jaya Minhas ’17, feminist majoring in spanish
and french with women & gender studies minor commented, “It is a very personal thing and some
women do not wish to take legal actions, but if they do, take time to reflect
and go to someone immediately to have records taken of all the evidence that
you have so that you are able to make that decision later.” This is easier said
than done especially for a victim who fears coming forward. I suggest that
employers listen to both sides and understand that this is a persistent
incident that needs to be handled accordingly. “Look at it more systematically.
Is this just a problem that has happened with this one employee or is there
other issues that needs to be addressed holistically,” commented Lehman. Often,
people are afraid to speak up because of power dynamics within the company they
are working in and the fact that losing their jobs becomes a high burden for
them. In addition, some may feel embarrassment about being a victim and develop
fears about their case being swept under the rug.
President
Trump and O’Reilly’s comments have caused a noticeable upset among feminists
today, and it is one of the reasons why feminists are coming together and
becoming more active. Especially, “To advocate for women’s issues since women
and girls are still disadvantaged globally—and in the U.S.—in the workplace,
family and other realms of life. Bust also to be attuned toward inequality in
any form, for example looking at race and class discrimination, discrimination
against people who are gay or lesbian; so, feminism to me, has a broad meaning
about fighting for equality,” explained Lehman. “Any day is very important to
band together, whether you are a self-proclaimed feminist or not, especially
now that we have a president who has been shown in the media as degrading and
sexualizing women. Don’t be afraid to speak up,” commented Torres.
In
addition, there has been a substantial increase of women who publicly identify
as being feminists on college campuses around the country today. “Women now
account for the majority of college students,
according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 11.3 million of them
as compared with 8.7 million men. And 63 per cent identify
as feminist,” according to an article from the New York Times. There is always a need for feminist activism and
especially now since different groups within the United States is becoming
disenfranchise and are under attack. There is currently an obvious threat to
women’s rights, especially abortion rights, and to 50 years of progress on
civil rights and civil liberties, religious tolerance, anti-racism, health care
and LGBTQ rights. Therefore, it is highly important for these groups speak up
if they are ever victims of sexual assault or harassment because there can be
strength in numbers.
Here at
Albright, there are various advocates who are key players in making sure that
students and employees on campus are never victims of sexual assault or
harassment. But, in the event that they are victims, they ensure that that
these individuals are properly taken care of. These are the individuals that
make up Albright’s Public Safety, Residential Life, and Gable Health Center.
For example, in April for Sexual Assault Awareness month, the Gable Health
Center facilitated a handful of events on campus that raised awareness and
brought students’ attention to sexual assault and harassment. Some of these
events alcohol screenings, showing a film titled Finding Jenn’s Voice and collaborating with Public Safety to offer Rape
Aggression Defense System (RAD) classes to students on campus. This is to show
that everyone is making a collective effort to ensure that students are living
in a safe environment. It is essential for students at Albright to be informed
about the services that are available to them and the fact that they are able
to take advantage of these services. We all need to make a collective effort to
ensure that everyone is living in a safe environment.
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