The Paradox of #metoo

[HeartLikeAWheel]

The power of #metoo is its factual basis. Sexual harassment is such a widespread problem that almost all women and some men have experienced it. Finally, there is a movement that gives our lived experience credibility.

As much research has shown, false accusations of sexual assault and/or harassment are rare (on par with false accusations of other crimes). For that reason, very few people have had that experience. I was one of them. I am a 62 year old woman. Thirty years ago, when I was an assistant professor at the university where I still teach, a student made such charges against me. The circumstances were unusual. The accuser was a former student of mine. Her boyfriend was a current student. I knew he had a crush on me. I can only suppose that my accuser was jealous and out for revenge. In any case, she not only made a formal accusation to my chair, but compiled a list of all those male students I had supposedly harassed. This was complete nonsense, but she was insistent. Fortunately, my chair demonstrated more sense than 38 Democratic senators. She informed the student that she had no standing to bring charges, and that her boyfriend was the one to bring them, if there was any truth at all to what she was saying. Of course, that never happened.

I knew I was innocent, but I was tormented by my realization of how difficult it would be to prove a negative. I also knew that, if word got around, there would always be some doubt about me. In thirty years, I have shared this story with only five persons for precisely that reason. I am sharing it now because of the railroading of Senator Franken.

I am disgusted by the actions of the leaders of my party-people I had respected up until now. I urge everyone to consider that due process and the presumption of innocence are good things. Many accusers are credible, but some are not. Certainly no one should be forced out of their job on the basis of anonymous accusations. At least I knew who was accusing me and therefore could offer some coherent response.

Yes, I have experienced sexual harassment. I know it's real and widespread. That's the irony of my story and why I've felt whipsawed by the past few weeks.

[SHRED]

1. In politics especially...

...there is a more than usual incentive to weaponize it.
Hence the need for a hearing.

[HeartLikeAWheel]

2. Exactly!

[Demit]

3. Thank you for sharing your story.

False accusations are a risk to anyone in a position of prominence or responsibility, when they come in contact with hundreds/thousands of people. The risk increases when they have colleagues who could profit by destroying their reputation. I'm glad your chair was level-headed in your situation. That doesn't always happen, as we have just witnessed.

[Johonny]

4. The Paradox is that Trump won on a message of White men are being unfairly treated

and the metoo movement has had an interesting split level effect. In liberal Hollywood and liberal politics its become a ticking time bomb destroying careers. Whereas in conservative circles its starting to become a badge of honor. Sure GOPer that cost their boss a lot of court money fell, but they're hardly disgraced. Billy Orielly pretty much as popular as ever. More to the point, it's helping cement the conservative narrative. Watch out in 2018 when the GOP push the message of look what happen to so and so, it can happen to you too. White men are under assault was there narrative, and now paradoxically their bad behavior has lent fuel only to the GOP's narrative. You wonder if even more moderate white males will lean GOP in the future because there's a feeling their not safe in this new liberal world.

The lesson here is, the metoo movement only teaches a lesson if everyone wants to learn the message. But we already know that even before the movement, the GOP don't want to learn that lesson. Indeed they have and plan to continue to, exploit it. Thus they're embracing Moore just like they embraced Trump and paradoxically it isn't hurting them, it's working. It's horrible, and yet it's pretty clear a lot of white males are doing badly out there in the current world, and this plays right into the GOP scapegoat message.

I don't know how the metoo movement turns this around, other than a generational shift as it's clear the young are moving left on gay rights, women's rights, gender rights. But generational shifts take a long time to play out in politics and many of us don't have a long time left

[Leighbythesea]

5. Thank you

For sharing this!

[Willie Pep]

6. This is why formal mechanisms are needed to sort accusations out.

Sexual harassment is a real problem but trial by media is never good and often leads to sensationalism and witch hunting. This is especially true when it comes to politics where there is an incentive to use sexual harassment claims as weapons to destroy opponents. That is why I thought that an ethics investigation of Franken was the best course of action. I am afraid that by resigning without an investigation Franken has signaled to political operatives that sexual harassment claims can be weaponized to destroy politicians. I expect all opposition research to now hunt for possible accusers no matter how flimsy their claims are.

Thank you for sharing your story. I know a man who was falsely accused of sexually molesting another man. His accuser later confessed to lying about his claim but the damage was done and this man I know lost his job, his marriage collapsed and his reputation in the community was irreparably damaged so he ended up moving to another town. False accusations are rare but the consequences can be dire even if the victim is formally exonerated people will still see them as a wrongdoer. That is why accusations need to be handled in a serious manner by formal institutions not the news media or Twitter.