My thoughts on this for the week. The me too movement has
hit the Democratic Party of New Mexico hard this week. The Chairman resigned
because he had not taken claims of misconduct seriously enough.
I find that in most cases there are two types of men who don’t
deal well with this issue.
Type 1
These are the men that would never dream of sexually harassing
a woman. This type wants nothing to do with any type of sexual harassment
claims either at home or at work. They feel very uncomfortable with the issue
all together to the point where they are unwilling to believe a woman. They totally lack the skills or the ability to help a victim of sexual harassment. They
fear being accused of the same type of behavior even though they would never
dream of it. What these types of men are guilty of is helping the type 2 men
get away with some very wrong actions.
Type 2
Type 2
These are the men that use sex for power and control. They
have not respect for anyone either at home or in the work place. They view all
coworkers as objects to be used and abused. They are controlling and manipulative.
They have one or all three very problematic character traits which are narcissism,
psychopathy, and Machiavellianism in the extreme and most often uncontrolled.
Now in politics candidates and leaders in general can show
some degree of these types of traits. After all it does take a strong outgoing
type of character to put themselves into the public eye. The problem arises
when a line is crossed where the individual does not know how to control these
behavior traits toward women. Currently women are beginning to stand up and say
no more. They are speaking out and calling out the type 2 men and demanding
social justice. For far too long these men have harmed women in the work and
social areas of our society. The time has finally come where women are no
longer willing to accept this behavior.
We do face the problem of a very few women who see this as a
way to force the type 1 men into giving them anything they want. Women must guard
against women who abuse this issue for their own gains.
The approach that will help is education of the type 1 men
in how to handle sexual harassment claims in a positive manner. They must learn
that a real sexual harassment victim is not looking to claim that all men are
out to sexually harass them. These women need support and they need someone who
is willing to honestly look at their claims without the fear of doing damage
either to themselves or their organization.
The second part is more difficult because of the legal
issues associated with a claim of sexual harassment. Still if organizations are
willing to take action then the risk associated with these claims is very much
decreased. Organizations must learn that type 2 individuals must be controlled
or eliminated not for the victims but for the good of the place where they are
working. Not victims but abusers are the ones that are harming these
organizations! And society as a whole must hold the abusers and not the victims
accountable for their actions.
