The backlash of #MeToo

Those of us who are old enough will remember that in 1991, Clarence Thomas was confirmed and appointed to the Supreme Court, despite the compelling and riveting testimony of Anita Hill. The all-male Senate Judiciary Committee confirmed him, in the face of credible evidence that he had sexually harassed Ms. Hill. The backlash from this decision was immediate and fierce, and in 1992, more women than ever were elected to public office. 1992 was dubbed the Year of the Woman.

You would think that in the nearly thirty years since (ouch!) that the power dynamic would have fundamentally changed. But, it really hasn’t. Unless you’ve been holed up in a cabin in the woods for the last year, you’ve heard about the #MeToo movement. It’s brought down titans of industry, from Les Moonves at CBS to Harvey Weinstein. #MeToo exposed the pervasiveness of abuses of power, and how ingrained this is in corporate—and American—culture.  #MeToo has given women a voice. But #MeToo also shows us that things are pretty much the same as they’ve always been.

And who are the real victims here in all of this? Why, it’s the men, of course! The poor, poor (usually white) men who are so oppressed and victimized by the Evil Women. False accusations by women occur in approximately 2% of cases, and that is 2% too many! Eighty-one percent of women will experience sexual harassment in the workplace, and 27% of all women will be victims of sexual assault. But what about the men? What should they do? en.malinaescort.com

Apparently, the struggle to avoid harassing female coworkers is real. And it’s difficult. Wall Street, well known for its bro culture, has been especially hard hit. In fact, it is such a problem for Wall Street Bros to NOT sexually harass their female colleagues, that many have taken extreme measures, including:

• Not dining with female colleagues.
• Refusing to sit next to female colleagues.
• Avoiding one-on-one meetings with women.

It must be so hard for them. The struggle is real.  I mean, really, it would be so much easier if women were simply excluded from the workplace. How inconvenient to have to treat women as, well, people! These poor men. . .they can’t make misogynist jokes anymore! Some super sensitive woman might think that was offensive! They’re so oppressed, these titans of finance and industry. They long for the good old days when they could grope female colleagues without any consequence.

Here’s the real deal, guys. You don’t need to avoid women entirely. You don’t have to worry about adapting to some kind of “new work order.” You needn’t yearn for the Good Old Days When Women Stayed Home. What do you need to do? It’s pretty simple. You need to NOT BE A JERK. That’s it. Don’t make off-color jokes. Don’t make sexist comments. Don’t put your hands on your coworkers. Regardless of the context, your best course of action is to JUST DON’T. Yup, even if your audience is all male. (Especially if your audience is all male?) Just Don’t Be A Jerk, and you too can avoid #MeToo.