Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/04/13/widespread-sexual-harassment.html
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Honestly, this kind of suit could be brought against nearly every restaurant, everywhere in the US. I applaud these people for coming forward in a hostile atmosphere because there is almost no industry as vile, sexist and predatory as food and beverage.
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I’ve worked in food service in the past, and you are not wrong.
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Yep. The food service industry is a cesspool of sexual harassment and assault, as well as general predatory behavior both among workers and between workers and proprietors. It’s an industry that fosters a culture of mutual distrust and backstabbing. Fast food (and McDonalds’s in particular) is especially bad because those companies’ management culture is focused on maximizing worker exploitation while doing as little as possible to manage predatory behavior among the workers, tacitly encouraging workers not getting paid a living wage or given a healthy work environment to take it out on each other. The companies pay minimal lip-service to addressing these problems while in actuality doing the bare minimum not to get sued, prosecuted or bad PR.
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At this point is anyone really surprised by this? Is there any where in the workplace free of sexual harassment? Are there any women who haven’t dealt with some form of sexual harassment? My sister in law is a lawyer who has worked in some very prestigious Philadelphia law firms and she has had a shocking number of experiences with blatant sexual harassment. Comments about her breasts and rear end. Unwanted touching. Male colleagues who would drink too much at business lunches and dinners leading to all manner of inappropriate behavior. But the piece de resistance? During a break in a deposition the opposing council exposed himself to her. Yep, right there in the board room of a bustling law firm he whipped it out! The fact that he felt he could get away with that behavior is very telling. It speaks to how pervasive this problem is throughout our society.
And now I’m going to get on my soapbox for a moment. Sorry! Feel free to ignore the rest.
We men have an important role to play in the fight against sexual harassment. The message that this behavior is no longer acceptable must come from men as well as women. In fact disapproval coming from men will probably carry more weight with the perpetrators of harassment than it does coming from women. Why aren’t we on the front lines of a fight against something that hurts our wives and mothers and girlfriends and sisters and daughters and friends? And let’s be very clear here. This is not about harmless flirting being misunderstood or women getting offended because a man complimented her or opened the door for her. No one is being attacked just for being male. Femi-nazis do not exist. Wiping out your dick in a place of business is not the same as flashing your tits at Mardis Gras. Those are false narratives invented so we don’t have to deal with the real problem. Do not allow them to go unchallenged. The real problem is the physical, emotional, and financial harm being done to far too many women. And it is men, more than “Me Too” and “Times Up” and all the parades and marches and pussy hats combined, that can effect real change. Men can tip the scales in favor of women by making it socially unacceptable to sexually harass women. Men can change the social discourse by speaking out whenever and where ever possible, adding male voices to the female voices… Men need to hold other men accountable for their words and behavior. No more of that “boys will be boys” shit.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” - Bishop Desmond Tutu
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Chris Darling!
I’m so glad you’re alive!
(Terrible topic, yes; totally not surprising, though.)
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Hello my dearest Melz!
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