BUT ENLISTING IT IN THE GENDER WARS IS THE MAIN APPEAL: Against Overgendering Harassment. “About 30% of the victims of sexual harassment are men. About 20% of the perpetrators of sexual harassment are women.”
And I think that understates it because behavior — like comments on clothing, or unsolicited hugs — that would be defined as harassment if done by men is not so defined when done by women.
Plus: “Could this kind of ploy really shut up everybody? It didn’t have to. Men absolutely came forward with stories of harassment by high-profile women in Hollywood, and they were summarily ignored. By freak coincidence I came across this story from last month where Mariah Carey’s bodyguard accused her of sexually harassing him. Carey is much higher-profile than most of the men involved. But she didn’t even publish an apology, or a denial, or try to pick holes in his story. She just assumed nobody would care – and she was right. Having silenced or ignored all men who might be sexually harassed, the media proceeded to treat sexual harassment in the most gendered way humanly possible, constantly reinforcing that only men can do it and only women can suffer it.”
And: “But more than that, if men were included in the conversation – if it were understood that a man who was sexually harassed by a female Hollywood celebrity would have the slightest chance at a fair hearing – then maybe they would feel like it was more in their self-interest to support victims. And if women were included in the conversation as potential perpetrators, they might understand why some people find it scary when people lose their careers over unsubstantiated allegations.”
Hint: The agenda here isn’t justice.