Not unreasonable content, but it is galling to read:
Not unreasonable content, but it is galling to read:
... women understand the difference between flirtation and harassment. "The main thing this cultural and social moment of talking about sexual harassment should give us is that men should begin to understand this as well," she says.
Begin?!? Why don't they understand this already? How hard is it? Why is it the women understand but the poor remedial males need help to catch up? Women understand the difference because we're threatened and diminished all the damn time. How about men just stop that nonsense and understand that they are not entitled to our attention or our time? Maybe they could even conceive of us as equally valid and powerful human beings? Or would that be too big a shock to their delicate male system?
Harrumph.
Also, the office romance, esp as portrayed by Hollywood and Harlequin is inherently about an unequal power relationship where it's always doing the woman a Cinderella favor. When they decide it's about something else you get idiocy like Fatal Attraction, Disclosure, or What Women Want. Bitches, psychos, or jokes about a man's man in drag.
Ftn.
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/15/570970672/in-a-crisis-of-sexual-harassment-whither-the-office-romance
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/15/570970672/in-a-crisis-of-sexual-harassment-whither-the-office-romance
... women understand the difference between flirtation and harassment. "The main thing this cultural and social moment of talking about sexual harassment should give us is that men should begin to understand this as well," she says.
Begin?!? Why don't they understand this already? How hard is it? Why is it the women understand but the poor remedial males need help to catch up? Women understand the difference because we're threatened and diminished all the damn time. How about men just stop that nonsense and understand that they are not entitled to our attention or our time? Maybe they could even conceive of us as equally valid and powerful human beings? Or would that be too big a shock to their delicate male system?
Harrumph.
Also, the office romance, esp as portrayed by Hollywood and Harlequin is inherently about an unequal power relationship where it's always doing the woman a Cinderella favor. When they decide it's about something else you get idiocy like Fatal Attraction, Disclosure, or What Women Want. Bitches, psychos, or jokes about a man's man in drag.
Ftn.
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/15/570970672/in-a-crisis-of-sexual-harassment-whither-the-office-romance
https://www.npr.org/2017/12/15/570970672/in-a-crisis-of-sexual-harassment-whither-the-office-romance
I just heard this one on npr, I only caught part of it and was half paying attention, but it seemed a bit tongue and cheek.
ReplyDeleteI mean, they are making some useful suggestions for actual action that does give women and men a legitimate path for dealing with meeting someone in the office so the power imbalance is minimized. And the actual relationship they talk about happens to be one that went well.
ReplyDeleteThat last comment was just irritating.
Isn't the problem that there is a power imbalance in the first place? I mean, there is generally a difference in muscle power, but if it comes to that, things have already gone south of the south pole. Half of my bosses have been women, all of my female coworkers are better paid than me (members of a powerful union) but that has never been an issue. If people only flirt with those who are afraid of them, the enemy has already won.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is the underlying power imbalance.
ReplyDelete