Time published an article today, titled “Women Are No Longer Being Shamed Into Silence.” I don’t think I fully support the title of the article, because many women still are being shamed into silence and are afraid to speak up about sexual assault and harassment, however, I do believe that it is getting better than it once was. I really like the intro of the article where it jests about how men are now afraid of losing their jobs for being accused of sexual misconduct, but women have always felt that struggle. As the author puts it, we “welcome [them] to the club.”
I think it is great that many men are being more mindful about their actions and the effect that they can have on people around them. I do find it frustrating, however, that some men seem overly concerned about commonplace activities that they think could be used to accuse them of assault. For example, a male colleague was in my office area the other day and their umbrella happened to slip out of their hand shortly before a female colleague walked by him. He then made a comment along the lines of,”oh, thank god I didn’t hit you with my umbrella. I wouldn’t want you to file a sexual assault claim against me.” I sometimes almost feel like comments like that minimize the harsh reality of sexual assault and harassment. If he was joking about this, I think it is a shame. If he was seriously concerned that an action like this is considered sexual assault, I think we need to do a much better job about educating our society about sexual harassment and assault and boundaries in general. What are your thoughts on whether women are still being silenced and how do you feel about men now being more mindful of their actions?
-Hannah Morris