#MeToo Called for an Overhaul. Are Workplaces Really Changing?

Similar to rape, only a very small percentage of sexual workplace harassment ever gets addressed. Those who do it repetitively know they will get away with it. It's power tripping and keeping women from rising and making rank or making more money. As if women don't need money to live today. I believe earning an income to eat and put a roof over one's head is a basic right.

Its not good enough to say it will "take time to fix" sexual predation. Do we tolerate theft, murder, or destruction of property? No, because it occurs across gender lines. The way to end this is for women to use their power together. Women standing with other women, not backing down, willing to risk their lives for each other, is what it will take. Sisters, take your power back and never again give it up for a weak hope that someone else will take responsibility to protect your interests. Sisters, take our power back and then take on the corporate greed, the destruction of the planet, the killing of our children, and the insanity of war.

I wonder if in any of the classes and seminars held on this subject the women are counselled on how not to put themselves in compromising situations or wear overly provocative clothing, as just one of many ways to cut down on the abhorrent behavior on the part of men.

A few women complaining and a few men being held accountable undoing millennia of discrimination - ??? No way. We’re in the top of the 1st inning and he first pitch hasn’t even been thrown yet. Going to be a long, long game.

Raising consciousness is a huge success, even if everything's not perfect yet. When Trump goes down, and oh, (IMO) he will, things may actually get better. http://www.thecriticalmom.blogspot.com

The problem with these discussions is defining how far on the sexual harassment scale society wants to go. Firing abusers like Weinstein is a no brainer. But what about employees going out for happy hour and sharing a couple of so-called "dirty jokes". Is this sexual harassment, when such jokes may be from a TV show? If we include the latter we'll have men's clubs and women's clubs like Saudi Arabia.

My question is this: Is the #MeToo movement controlled by a desire for a workplace where women are respected, or is it controlled by mob justice and a desire for revenge. I am afraid that the #MeToo movement has become a witch hunt. Two cases in point: Aziz Ansari. He went on a date with a woman; he wanted to have sex. While the woman did not, she did not make this unambiguous and clear to Aziz; indeed, she performed non-intercourse sex acts with him. When she finally made it clear she did not want intercourse, he let her go. This was not sexual assualt; everything that happened that night was consensual. Perhaps we should say it’s wrong to try to have sex on the first date, but the kinds of people who support the #MeToo witch hunt seem to be the kinds of people who think it’s somehow puritanical and repressive to suggest a return to traditional sexual norms. Exhibit #2: Nolan Bushnell. He did not receive a game award because of allegations of a sexually hostile workplace in the early 1970s with Atari. These allegations were done by people who were not there; when the women who were there at Atari in the 1970s spoke up (Loni Reeder, etc.), they made it emphatically clear that Nolan Bushnell respected women and that Atari was far more respectful of women than other 1970s companies. In both cases, accusations of sexual assault happened when there was, in fact, no such assault. I support #MeToo and I support women being respected -- but we must stop the witch hunt.

Company culture is top down. In the company I worked for many years, there were two memorable examples. A Senior VP was immediately fired after caught fooling around with his secretary. And many years later (different generation of employees), so was another (VP, fired). The secretaries were not fired. Word spread far and fast both times. But perhaps my company was a rarity. And perhaps there were other such relationships never-found-out. Or perhaps the firings were political with the relationships used as pretext. Impossible to know.

Harassment and unequal pay cannot be rectified, or even observed, by laissez-faire economics. We can have an ethical system, or we can have laissez-faire economics. We cannot have both. It is time for big changes.

Ok gang, let's go over it again. 1-Sexual harassment has been outlawed in this country since app. 1980. Since then countless women (and some men) have filed complaints, sued etc. and won. I know several of them did it in my company. 2-The only thing as bad as a predator is a co depend and enabler. We started to do that right after the ground breaking change in 1980. It includes men but also many, many, many women like Anita Hill who complained yrs later despite the fact she was a lawyer. Countless women in Hollywood who complained after the roles and advancements stopped and yes many liberals and groups like M. Streep, Hillary and NOW who protected the predators as long as they were liberal and contributed to the cause. 3-Again, the only thing as bad as a predator is a co dependent or enabler. Predators live for them. The only exception to above are minors or immigrant women who don't know the law.

there are many women facing issues, but "pervasive" is a gross exaggeration. There are over 70,000,000 men in the workforce and the cases reported are not even 1 percent. so, deal with the issue, yes, but come on, don't let this rise to hysteria.

Workplaces at large companies that have a lot to risk by not addressing these issues appropriately will change, and some have changed long ago. But that doesn't mean sexual harassment, or harassment in general, will end. For example, when a person doesn't care about losing their job because their job is so bad anyway (such as, say, a worker in a low level service sector) then the threat of being fired adds zero to the equation. Or, when a person's reputation is so shot, at least among people who care about this issue, that they can't lower the bar much further (for example, President Trump, or, say, someone previously convicted of rape) then the threat of humiliation adds nothing to the equation. Finally, and this is something that I find woefully missing in this whole discussion, is that general harassment happens every day, and much of it by women. As a result, once the shock and awe of the sexual part of harassment is digested, there will be a realization that the focus on this issue is way too narrow. Just two weeks ago I was making this point in different thread, and sure enough later that day I got harassed by a woman on my way home from work in the subway, despite being polite and curteous. I'm thinking of starting a video collection to show how pervasive this behaviour is, and maybe those people will get fired for their behavior.

"We can't fire our way out of this problem." Are we sure? Should we try? Cultures are hard to change. Socialization is hard to undo in adults. Behavior, however, is subject to modification based on incentives, risks and rewards. Do we need to make harassment and abuse riskier, and the consequences more certain? Can we do more to reward positive behavior by men in the workplace?

Accusations of misbehavior of any kind have never been grounds for complete dismissal, only investigation. And accusers who won't pursue legal action have no grounds, and should not be listened to, period. ANYONE can make accusations. The day-care scandals are a perfect example of how lives can be destroyed for no good reason. Having a good reason does not justify public shaming and trial by media. Sadly, people never learn anything, because each generation knows less instead of more. The ends do not justify the means. Slander, gossip, personal attacks are age-old weapons women use, and it does not demonstrate equality or emotional maturity to use them now. I suspect this whole "movement" was derived from PETA's terrorist tactics, given the Hollywood connections behind it all. I hope we soon see the men fighting back. Criminal behavior should be punished criminally. Women constantly prove, if anyone is looking, that they are no better than men.

Yeah right. Men have fallen all becuase of an accusation or accusations. No evidence, no trial, no jury, not by the usual standards anyway. Nothing to be proud of Ms. Tchen. Just say the word and a man is convicted. Don't dare complain, keep your mouths shut, guys. Am i in the U.S. or China?

Excellent article, but yet again doesn't really address root causes. It correctly notes harassment will be hard to end & that problems are systemic & pervasive, but doesn't ask why. Aren't we programmed to learn from day we're born? As adults don't we all have tastes & habits that are hard to change, even though much can be modified & we continue to learn for life? The comments correctly note: harassment is about power & entitlement & that behavior is cultural, Issues are systemic, pervasive, provocative dressing is a factor, & kindness & compassion are needed. Doesn't this all reflect that learned mindset is key, meaning power of indoctrination (including paternalism)? The NYT came close to addressing all above when on front page they linked attitude of father of drunk Stanford student (given 6 mo. jail for raping unconscious drunk woman) said "too much punishment for 20min. of exercise." Since we agree kids mostly learn what they live, shouldn't all policies (gov't, organizations, schools, etc) be linked to affects on kids? How about fact legal system is determined by Who CAN Win Vs What Is Fair, no matter the topic, worst when hurts kids? WHY aren't all media alerting public to fact Congress has been sitting since July 24, 2107 on bill, H.Con.Res.72 re safety 1st of kids of divorce? It's compassionate & constructive vs pointing fingers. Most of Europe has such laws. Credible data shows family courts order 58,000 kids/yr to abusive custody/visits. CPS is worse.

All forms of harassment whether it be sexual, racial, political, economic, etc. need to be addressed because they create an unhealthy work, school, worship, etc. environment. The toughest part of this is finding the right way to talk about it without offending or embarrassing someone. However if it's not talked about then nothing will change and that is worst then offending or embarrassing someone.

Don’t be deluded. Women in power do not always stand up for other women. Women and men are individuals not monolithic

NY Times just can't give up on the endless victim industry... over and over and over and over. Paper of record has become a pathetic collection of professional grievance peddlers. Not sure how much longer I can continue to support the Times when they platform these people to no end. Yes I know this is happening and the news and its the zeitgeist. But know when to give it a rest and lay back for a bit....

Some men do behave badly but then some women also make accusations over a misconstrued word . Unfortunately it is women like Ms. Parra that really suffer because they need their jobs and that makes them a target for gross behavior and comments . Yes there should be laws that guarantee women equal pay for equal work . Boorish men will always be around , it is ingrained behavior , you can shame them , you can have them fired , you can shun them but you cannot change them . Perhaps the beginning should start at home where a sense of right from wrong is taught along with how to tie your shoes.

For a woman to be fired due to her actions to stop sexual harassment is pure cowardice. A man, who felt threatened, can't even own up to his own actions so he must rid of the evidence by firing his victim. Oh, the irony; he didn't feel safe so he rid of the problem. If only it was that easy for women in the workplace. Instead, they are often silenced, accused of falsifying a story, or just plainly ignored. It is an awful feeling to be surrounded by an environment of belittling coworkers whom you are meant to learn from, not suffer because of. It amazes me that the MeToo movement is the backbone behind the purpose of these new laws. Inequality in the workforce has been an issue for decades, but when women's lives over dignity are at risk, something is done. This proves the reason that women are growing in power and influence. People are starting to realize that we need women to get the job done, because they are just as valued as men.

If we recall Susan Brownmiller's assertion that rape is about power, not sex, it would follow that sexual harassment is also about power. To build on Tony's comments below, employers have been systematically disempowering their employees for decades now, and we shouldn't be surprised that sexual harassment is one consequence. It also shouldn't surprise us that harassment complaints would result in the firing or further humiliation of the less-powerful person complaining, and impunity if not a promotion for the more-powerful harasser -- even if the middling-powered woman (usually) in HR might wish otherwise. Treating employees as full human beings in all ways in the workplace would help greatly in combating sexual harassment.

If you want to change the culture, you have to start with the future. Educating our kids and young people on appropriate and respectful behavior. Its been generations of "boys will be boys" excuse making and blame the victim attitudes. We can't expect corporations and legal actions to cure this problem. You have to root it out before it starts by changing culture attitudes of our future generations.

Very old and tired story......

A losing battle.....you can change the rules, but you cannot change people....... A very old lesson which requires relearning over and over and over.........

It's great that there is now public dialogue concerning unreasonable sexual advances. And an acknowledgement that changes need to be made. But I also find it interesting that no one seems to want to acknowledge what sex really is all about. Breeding. A very fundamental part of life. People seem to think that the source of this bad behavior is "social" in nature. So somehow it can be "behavior"'ed away. Far from it. Breeding is a simple and complex at the same time. It's a messy business and our society makes it even messier. There have been plenty of studies about this. One can only modify genetic behavior so much.

The most effective "training" is perpetrators seeing other perpetrators fired and the resulting financial consequences. No arbitration, no caps, no secret settlements. It was tough to hear when HRC said it about other systemic issues, but it applies here to: in many instances you can't change behaviors but you can change laws. Thank you for your work, Ms. Kantor

So glad I'm a gay man. Talk about a future schism between straight men and women...wow. And what about all the women who use their sexiness to attract a man? Is she exploiting herself or simply being a woman?

Now the hard work and need for persistent effort begins: changing attitudes and culture and enforcement of regulations and company policies. It will take years of dedication and good leadership. Unfortunately for #metoo they have gone off the rails in initially establishing an environment of fear, hysteria, and revenge. My tipping point was when Kirsten Gillibrand and company Tom down Al Franken without due process. Fear does not engender a healthy attitude towards addressing the fundamental problems.

Sexual harassment is one of many inequalities in the workplace. While more pervasive than some, it shares a common theme. Workers have little control over their working condiditons and few protections they try and protect themselves. Sound like a common theme? It should because this has been the lot of the American working class for over a century. The way forward for the Me Too movement is to recognize that sexual harassment is part of a broader pattern of inequalities in the workplace and its eradication lies in solidarity with all those that suffer inequalities and suppport for collective action for their eradication. In other words, a new union movement. European men are no less sexists than their American counterparts. But there unions are stronger and many have demanded that equal and fair treatment be part of union contracts. The result? Fewer incidents of sexual harassment on the job and support from union men when they do occur. A perfect solution? No, but certainly a better path forward.

I appreciate the discussion of self employed women who have no recourse against abusers. As a former hairdresser, I was proud to work in a female identified (and gay celebrating) space. During my 10+ years in the beauty industry, I never experienced sexual harassment from my colleagues. However, sexual harassment from clients was a different matter. In an industry that involves a lot of touching and personalized service, it was common for men to feel emboldened to say or do inappropriate things during a service. One of the positive aspects of being a self employed hairdresser was that my power rested with me. I was not required to continue a service or accept a client that made me uncomfortable. If a client was out of line I simply asked them to leave and never accepted them again. I was lucky that my decisions were my own. However, I don't assume that all hairdressers have this same experience. Many are forced to continue accepting clients that abuse them during services, with the threat of losing their jobs. We must empower hairdressers and other beauty/spa professionals to say "no" to abusive clients!

#MeToo is nothing more than #MeCathyism. It is a misandrist, self-righteous, sanctimonious, anti-sex, puritanical movement, whose aim is to demonize and vilify men and male sexuality. It is social conservatism with a feminist coat of paint.

WE have allowed our corporations to rule the lives of there employees. Corporations have taken away pensions, benefits, shipped positions overseas so they didn't have to pay American employees a living wage. Unreasonable work demands have been placed on employees. Professional minorities arent hired because of the white only status being enforced by human resources, managers hiding behind technology of how resumes are reviewed. No pay leave for women, corporate boards stacked with white old men. The list goes on so why in the world would we think that corporations who have not thought about employees for decades would do an about switch. We welcome the movement but the reality of white corporate America is that change will take years. Corporations have no loyalty to employees and based on that they will roll the dice and work on not getting caught.

Sexual harassment is a cultural problem, not a legal one. Because it is so deeply embedded in almost all cultures throughout the world it will take time to fix. The idea that things would dramatically change in a few months is unrealistic.

One unspoken issue is that members of both genders are at fault. Don’t misunderstand me, the major problem is that a minority of men have behaved inappropriately, often very much so. Think Harvey Weinstein. But it’s also true that women need to avoid sexualizing themselves in the workplace. Most women, like the majority of men, are appropriate. But a few are not, and this sends the wrong message. Consider this cover story from the Times Sunday style magazine about a year and a half ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/t-magazine/natalie-portman-jonathan-s... This is an article about Natalie Portman as a director, not an actress. The problem is that both in the cover photo and the many illustrations in the article itself, she is not wearing any pants, only a tiny bikini; some of her poses are provocative. The Times advertised the cover photo prior to publication. Surely this is inappropriate. Or consider Ellen Pao, the Silicon Valley executive who unsuccessfully sued her former employer, Kleiner Perkins, for harassment. She has become one of the Times’ poster people for the #metoo movement. Her problems began when she had a consensual affair with a married male superior at her employer. Surely this was inappropriate – for both parties. Both genders need to avoid inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.

And there's one more reason #MeToo "is tough to implement": women want sex, too. Although you'd never guess it from the liberal media.

Minor changes have been made but until the power structure of the business and corporate world changes to include many more women at the top we will not solve this problem since sexual harassment is mostly about power. My company has instituted in person annual training such that I'm having training at least twice a year, once at a company retreat and once in my office. The training is not just focused on sexual harassment but includes that topic along with discrimination, retaliation, respect, bullying, etc. I think the repeated training does help although the guys don't always take it seriously. When I was sexually harassed, hotel, robe, company trip, 15 years ago I did not report it but simply left the company. If I had a similar experience now, I have more power so I might take action (but I still might not). The most important thing to me is to keep my career moving in the right direction, unfortunately reporting a claim for most women means your career is over.

#MeToo seems to have evolved nicely into "consultants" and "experts," cited almost exclusively in this story, opining about the problem that they are seeking to profit from. Lots of money now to be had now - who wants some? - #MeToo!

Last night on CNN a woman detailed her affair with Trump; the panel mainly came down against her. The metoo movement is not as far along as we would hope. Trump has GOP/Evangelical pass on sex. VOTE OUT GOP TO FIX THIS Ray Sipe

All I can say is that my boss (he owns the business) is clueless. He doesn't recognize his own behavior so the #metoo movement will only change our workplace if someone files a complaint. I think it's only a matter of time. Too bad men of previous generations just don't seem to be able to see themselves in the new light we think is shining.

Though fear may be a good motivator it is an imperfect one. Kindness and compassion (if possible) work better. Over the long term increasing worker power through the renewed power of unions and collective bargaining would make for a safer workplace.