Time Magazine’s people of the year are the “Silence Breakers:” the people, overwhelmingly women, behind the #MeToo movement.
This reckoning appears to have sprung up overnight. But it has actually been simmering for years, decades, centuries. Women have had it with bosses and co-workers who not only cross boundaries but don't even seem to know that boundaries exist. They've had it with the fear of retaliation, of being blackballed, of being fired from a job they can't afford to lose. They've had it with the code of going along to get along. They've had it with men who use their power to take what they want from women. These silence breakers have started a revolution of refusal, gathering strength by the day, and in the past two months alone, their collective anger has spurred immediate and shocking results: nearly every day, CEOs have been fired, moguls toppled, icons disgraced. In some cases, criminal charges have been brought.
Werdly, the cover omits Tanara Burke, the African-American woman who started #MeToo, although she is in the article.
The reckoning, as Time calls it, continues to gather steam. Six women have filed a class-action suit against the Weinstein brothers and their company, charging racketeering, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Netflix fired Danny Masterson after at least four rape allegations became public. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) is suddenly resigning, with the official explanation that he offered to pay two female staffers to be surrogate mothers for him and his wife; it’s unclear if he was suggesting alternative insemination or intercourse. Lawyers for Girls writer Murray Miller have retracted their claim that Aurora Perrineau sought money from him in her sexual assault case, and claim that their statements to the contrary were “good-faith misunderstanding.” And there are some creepy allegations against top National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard.
Nor are Democrats exempt: Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) resigned over reports of harassment. And Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) is retiring from Congress after it became public that he’d paid a settlement over harassment charges, and more accusers emerged.
Inexplicably, Donald Trump is still in the White House, and Roy Moore has a good chance of being the next Senator from Alabama.
The predictable backlash has started against the possibility of consequences for harassers, starting with breathless cries of “witch hunt” and tired takes on “It’s so tough for men, not knowing if it’s okay to hug a female co-worker.” (Dude. Try ASKING her!) See also: Alexadra Petri’s spot-on parody. USA Today approached Ijeoma Olou with a manipulative proposal to write a rebuttal to their editorial about the need for due process for the men accused:
I told her that I’d be happy to write about how the fixation on “due process” for these men was an attempt to re-center the concerns of men. How the question itself was absurd, because if there’s anything these stories show, it’s that these men in their years of open abuse were given more than just due process — but the women, many of whom had tried bringing this abuse to those in authority years before, were given no process at all. I said I’d love to write about the countless women whose careers were ended by coming forward with the abuse they faced, about the countless women whose careers were never able to get off of the ground because of abuse and gender discrimination. Due process. Women would love ANY process. They would love to even be heard.
[USA Today got back to her and said.....]
“But what they really want is to write that they believe that it’s great that these women are coming forward but that they believe in due process, and they want you to write that you don’t. They want a piece that says that you don’t believe in due process and that if a few innocent men lose their jobs it’s worth it to protect women.”
As always, this diary is a group effort. Massive thanks to ramara, Besame, Tamar, SandraLLAP, Crimson Quillfeather and the rest of the WOW crew for links and discussion. Here’s the good, the bad and the ugly this week:
Violence and Harassment:
Massage Envy has changed some of its policies after it was revealed that there have been at least 180 complaints of sexual assault at their facilities.
Defamation suits have become a popular tactic for alleged rapists to silence accusers. Remind me again why victims don’t come forward?
Women are 10 to 20 percent more likely than men to define an act (from exposing oneself to forced sexual contact) as harassment.
Sexual harassment and assault on airplanes exploit a literal captive audience, and airlines need to step up their response.
Sheila McMillen on dirty old men on the faculty.
Cyberbullying is a public health issue that’s hitting girls hard.
Reproductive Rights:
An interview with one of the members of Jane, a feminist collective that performed illegal abortions before Roe v. Wade.
At least 1500 anti-choice protesters surrounded a women’s clinic as part of a concerted campaign in Charlotte, NC. Imagine what could be accomplished if they put the same resources into helping children already born.
The Supreme Court will be hearing a case involving deceptive advertising by “crisis pregnancy centers” in California.
Intersectionality:
When faced with harassment, Asian-American women have to deal with stereotypes that simultaneously portray them as hypersexualized, submissive, and “model minority.”
Latin American women rappers sound off for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Economics:
Report: Microsoft systematically discriminates against women in pay & promotions.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, patients who can’t pay hospital bills are subjected to abuses, including women being forced into sex.
The women in Bangladesh who make our clothes.
Good News:
Monica Mayer is a pioneer of Mexico’s feminist art movement.
Former Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez is running for Governor of Texas.
23 awesome Goddesses from around the world — including my namesake!