I received a post from an acquaintance on Facebook. He said that he has had enough with Harvey Weinstein being in the papers every day. He reasoned we are making Harvey famous, "writing his biography in the mass media." I would say we make him infamous by publicizing his extended felonies. Every time we mention his name we should follow it with, "never again."
The only way to unmask and unempower the boogieman is to display him naked with all his warts exposed - oops I should watch my phraseology - that is figuratively naked, not literally, so Harvey don't get excited.
As to my male acquaintance's comments, I am appalled that a man (a person of the male gender) would put his two cents into the discussion about sexual harassment of women. Which dog in the fight is his? We should never forget Harvey Weinstein, or Andrew Weiner or Bill Cosby or any of the men with position that used that position to harass and molest and rape with impunity.
What is my dog in the fight? I feel a moral duty to "be a man, and do the right thing by any other human." I seek no power for myself; I seek justice for those wronged.
What Harvey Weinstein did and what he represents is of ultimate importance to remember for every American if we want to be true to the Constitution and keep America the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. It should not take a truly brave person to say, no I won't do that. Freedom of choice is a basic freedom of Americans. Look who they choose and President.
All of America should repeat every morning on waking and every evening on going to sleep, I will not intimidate another human to gratify myself. I will not use others against their will. It is always wrong and shameful. Should a truly ethical and moral person even need to remind themselves of this. But what we have in America today is a lack of morality, replaced by avarice and a need to succeed over the dignity of self. This is not rocket science it is simple human ethics. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.
Harvey, Bill, Andrew, President Clinton all broke the law without fear of punishment. Yes thank you Cy Vance and all the other D.A. who don't understand the simple term "no." Shame on you and shame on your brethren. I will define no - nyet, non - for you. NO as in stop, don't touch me. I am not consenting to this contact. It may not be in Latin, the language of the Law, but your first language is English correct? No means negatory response to your offer big boy. The flashing red light means stop, do not proceed down this road.
My acquaintance used the excuse that with so many other causes needing support - the Hurricanes recoveries, and the wild fire victims and black people matters, and our President eroding our freedoms while distracting us with hurricane recoveries, and fire victims and NRA-white supremacists, etc. that we should not put Harvey Weinstein first. Other situations merit our attention more. Really? BTW is it just coincidence that the hurricane in Texas was named ... Harvey.
Getting back to my buddy's statement about other causes are more urgent or first in line. I did not realize that empathy and energy to accomplish moral goals had a cumulative limit. "Oh no. I've no more energy to do the right thing. I'll just ignore evil exists. If I think about Harvey Weinstein, I won't be able to think about Harvey the hurricane's victims. Or the victims of the fires in California. I'm so limited.
I was further appalled, because his Facebook statement received praise and thumbs up from several women we both know - friends in common. I am sure that if any of the women sexually harassed had been their daughters or themselves they would not limit the publicity concerning Harvey Weinstein. Harvey lost his position in the film industry - so freakin' what. His marriage will break up. What marriage, he was screwing around on his wife for 40? years. The first women he harassed through his producer's office represented degradation of every women in America. Objectify one, objectify all.
Why have laws at all, if we enforce them inconsistently, and with an eye toward the felon's wallet.
Today, every male and many women in the film industry claim, "I did not know he was ... "
Yeah, how often have we heard that before. In the worst juxtaposition I can propose, I remember the "good Nazis" at the Nuremberg Trials saying, "I just did my job, I did not know of the exterminations in the camps."
And remember those who could not deny knowing said, they could not speak up for fear of losing ... you fill in the blank. Humans balance risks to themselves with personal gains and make decisions. It is a faulty method to evaluate moral actions.
The expression describing the knowledge of Harvey Weinstein's activities is "it was an open secret in the industry. Harvey was a predator." That makes every agent who sent a poor female alone up to Harvey's hotel suite a pimp who was waiting to claim his fifteen percent of the deal.
Finally brave women spoke out are to be praised, but what took so long. It's like a Greek morality play where the poor flawed hero or in this case heroine is tested by the Gods, put through lengthy trials and finally when his metal is proven, he dies. As a society, we have failed the test. We have chosen poorly. We have chosen selfishly. We have chosen the wrong path.
We are lost.
Not just with sexual harassment, but with racial discrimination and religious prejudice and narcissistic moral decay. Each time we chose the wrong response in reference to another's situation, we bring our personal demise closer, because we all have differences waiting to be exploited.
Our President as an icon represents present day America to a tee, narcissistic, greedy, and without an honest bone in his skeleton.
Why should an actress have to decide between her dream of being a star and her dignity. Why must she sacrifices one for the other.
She should never have to make that choice, especially knowing that in this male oriented society, her word - if she speaks out - may be taken as a lie (self-serving, bitter because she lost the part or etc.). All this while the big honcho's sociopathic lies are considered the truth without questioning. What reason does he have to lie? Everyone, he is a felon. Felons lie to avoid being caught.
Does this scenario ring true on a national level. It was Hitler who said, if you tell a lie, make it a big one, because they are harder to perceive as untrue.
It is not just in the film industry. Why is Ezekiel Elliot still carrying the football? Hell the professional football players will take a knee to protest Black Lives Matter, but when the black life is a woman's ... oh well, just hand him the ball and let him run for America's team.
So whenever a woman speaks out against the Harvey Weinstein's and the Bill Cosby's and all the others who use power to obtain their way - think Uber, Fashion, and many other industries - they must be praised as the bravest of warriors. Unless they have it on video tape - think Ray Rice's episode - plus the offender has exhausted his usefulness in his industry (Harvey Weinstein), the women has a even money chance of not being heard or believed.
Susan Fowler is iconic in her courageous unmasking of such activity at Uber. And yet the women on the board when asked to investigate the situation denied such activity occurred on a consistent basis. The section of Uber where Susan was employed started out 25% female and now is 6%, guess a lot of engineers got pregnant and took maternity level together, but it was not from their supervisors. We swear.
The women who were asked to "clear Uber" show that avarice knows no gender. How can a stockholder or even an Eric Holder be objective in the face of millions of dollars.
So for all you fans of feminist rights, remember this phrase you are going to hear it so often in the future.
I DID NOT KNOW THAT (You fill in the blank) WAS DOING THAT.
Ignorance is bliss.
To advocates of Black Lives Matter: I DID NOT KNOW THAT RACIAL PROFILING REALLY EXISTS.
Forty years from now, the time era from 2000 to 2025 will be know as the dumb ass era, because nobody knew nothing about anything that was going on except as it happened to them. Every one is a moron who only smartens up when it is their ass on the line. Take that any way you want.
Every known story of sexual harassment should be repeated in every newspaper, every day for the next five years. You tell these stories to your daughters, forewarned is forearmed. "I don't know" is unacceptable and "never forget" is the operative motto. Always beware because society will not defend you, you are on your own.
Women need to resist the power plays of men when it is against the woman's better interest, and in that rare situation where it is a man that is being intimidated by the power of another that man must have the strength and the will to act in his best interest too. Resist the manipulation and become a hero or heroine. Every human deserve the respect they demand. Demand your respect everyday.
-- L.A. Preschel
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