HARASSMENT HAPPENS EVERYWHERE!

Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

The other day I was in line, and couldn't help but hear the two women in front of me discussing the sexual harassment stories that have been in the news lately. One woman was saying how young women who want fame and fortune will sell their souls "in Hollywood" ..... as if this doesn't happen to anyone but actresses, and doesn't happen anywhere but in the entertainment industry!

Honestly, I was pretty shocked that other women could be so blase about what other women are subjected to ...

This doesn't just happen "in Hollywood" .... it happens EVERYWHERE. It happens to 1 in 4 women and it happens to our mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, co-workers ..... in every industry ..... factories, fast food restaurants, in real estate companies, in the every day workplace. Just to be clear, I'm talking about non-consensual situations here.

It's bad enough to be subjected to that type of harassment, but even worse when a woman's livelihood is threatened if she doesn't "play along".

Going back several decades, I'm thinking about how many rape victims are accused of "asking for it" .... or "she had it coming" ..... or some other idiotic justification. Frankly, I'm disgusted by it.

MY QUESTION ............ Why do some women seem to refuse to believe this situation exists? Because if they don't actually witness it, then it can't be true? When the Cosby accusers started having the strength to finally tell what happened, even posters on here were pretty unsympathetic. Some even went so far as to say some version of "they should have expected it". (???)

Why do women refuse to believe other women .... or adamantly blame the victim?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this ...

pommom · ‎03-10-2010

Me, too.

If your face brightens when you meet a friend, you have struck gold. - unknown

GSPgirl · ‎01-03-2012

Because it hasn’t happened to them or they don’t know the signs. I was harassed by a male employee, who was training me. He always wanted to close the door and I told him not to. I spoke to my boss about the inappropriate touches and he said Paul will be Paul. Now this was in 1987. I think women were afraid to report it. I wasn’t. I then found out that there were other women who were being harassed in the office and they were keeping logs. I left the company to reenter college and about 2 months later Paul was fired and so was my boss. Why? Because he ignored us and didn’t take the situation seriously. All the women kept their jobs.

kaydee50 · ‎02-07-2011

I have a problem with the current situation and with Cosby. I'm sure that harassment was involved but why wait so long to speak up??? Cosby was decades ago. Isn't there a statute of limitations to these accusations? Obviously to me, these women were willing to sell themselves for a job and now they are complaining about it. Sorry I'm not too sympathetic.

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

Because a whole fraternity of young men were just villified for months by a Rolling Stone story for a sexual attack that never happened at a party that never happened all because a woman journalist didn't bother to check out a supposed victim's story with her basic journalism 101 skills.

The entire media and social media devotees ran with it until someone bothered to believe the men and look at their proof and interview this woman's friends.

When your son or nephew or husband or other young man gets caught up in a girl's lies for attention, drama, career advancement, etc, you'll have your answer.

GSPgirl · ‎01-03-2012

@Laura14 wrote:
Because a whole fraternity of young men were just villified for months by a Rolling Stone story for a sexual attack that never happened at a party that never happened all because a woman journalist didn't bother to check out a supposed victim's story with her basic journalism 101 skills.

The entire media and social media devotees ran with it until someone bothered to believe the men and look at their proof and interview this woman's friends.

When your son or nephew or husband or other young man gets caught up in a girl's lies for attention, drama, career advancement, etc, you'll have your answer.

Same with what happened at Duke with the Lacrosse team. One woman can completely ruin your life with the media always taking the side of the supposed victim.

Pook · ‎03-20-2010

While I am well aware that it happens, I don't understand the ones that want stardom so bad that they just sell their souls and do what they are told for it!! To me that is agreeing to it. I wasn't raised that way. Even if I needed the job, I could not accept that is what I needed to to do! I am more sympathetic to say a single mom needing the income for her family. And yes I was the victim of many incidents of sexual harassment (groping to the extreme) on the job in the '70's and was told by my superiors to just ignore it and stay out of their way. I did not and announced to the whole floor what these men had done and were doing and once called out publicly they stopped. I would have left that job if it had continued but was not going to just remain silent!

Puppy Lips · ‎05-09-2010

I was sexually harassed by two different men in two different companies. My job security was not in question and I never felt physically threatened. One of the men I considered a friend. He was really crossing the line at work, but I shunned his advances and laughed it off to difuse the situation. I found out later that another women in the company was suing him, although I have no idea how that turned out.

We do need to take these allegations seriously. But on the other hand I would hate for men to be fasely accused. If I were a man, I would make sure any interactions at work with a woman were never behind closed doors and maybe with another person present.

And yes, it does happen everywhere. But you know Hollywood -- they think they are the only people that can change society.

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margaret Mead