The Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby scandals, as well as the wider Me Too movement have unmasked a festering rot in our society. For too long instances of sexual harassment of women only really engaged our collective attention in the case of extreme instances. By and large, as a society, we had turned a blind eye of a certain kind of ‘mild’ sexual harassment.
The two scandals I referenced in the beginning included several incidents that were anything but mild – indeed they include several counts of rape. However, the conversation they started emboldened several victims of more ‘everyday’ harassment to come forward and share their story. To our collective dismay, the blight seemed to be universal – across all our various cultures, regardless of economic demographics and seemingly present in all walks of life.
In recent centuries the relationship between genders has seen a major metamorphosis – one that has accelerated very considerably in recent decades. While many of the primary motivations of this change have been long delayed and overwhelmingly positive, the same cannot be said of some of the outcomes. As a species, we are prone to congratulating ourselves too easily on our good intentions. If we start to do something – anything – on the basis of our better judgment, we too often become complacent over assessing its repercussions and talking about the issues they highlight.
The much greater participation of women in the workforce unleashed the tremendous economic potential of one half of society which had been denied access to any participation at all – let alone the restriction of a glass ceiling. Nevertheless, it is far less clear if society actually embraced all the repercussions of a far more diverse workplace – and the sharing of power between genders – at a deeper more subconscious level. Having removed repressive restrictions that enforced segregation, had we – in fact – adequately grown to reflect the opportunity a new social order presented? Unfortunately the answer appears to be a resounding and disheartening, no.
We must have the humility to accept our flaws
It is our responsibility to look at ourselves in the mirror, as a society, and reassess where we have gone wrong. Clearly, many of our traditional structures, while restrictive, acted as deterrents to such abhorrent behavior in social settings to some extent, at least. Were we prepared for the more participatory society that we were giving birth to, at the level of behavioural maturity?
It is not my contention that several negative behaviours were not present in the seedy underbelly of our traditional societies – that is often the outcome of restriction and repression. Nor am I suggesting that the old way had merit simply because it enforced a social price that deterred the more obedient and stricter adherents. Lastly, I’m also not suggesting that women should have continued to remain yoked to home and hearth, without their individual creativity finding expression. I’m simply asking if we are not, in fact, caught between two paradigms at the moment – despite superficial appearances.
We are missing true deep down introspection and taking the next step in our evolution
Regardless of which culture we look at, it seems to be the case that greater intermingling of the sexes has produced both numerous positives, as well as a few persistent negative behaviours. Should we accept the dysfunctional as a percentage of total outcomes? Are the negatives inevitable? Some might be tempted to take such a position but I disagree profoundly.
On even fairly casual consideration, the sheer rate and scale at which women are being sexually harassed in our societies is shocking. This is no insignificant percentile that can be dismissed as an inevitable dysfunction within a largely healthy society. It would be foolish to pretend that is the case.
I am of the opinion that we need to truly embrace the fact that simply acknowledging the equality of genders was not the end of the road, it was an invitation to live in a more just and enlightened society. It required a far more active participation than merely expressing our agreement in principle.
As a society, we must realize that stepping away from outdated ways to organize ourselves is great, but it is only the first step. We have to contemplate deeply on being compassionate, respectful and above all morally upright, towards one another. Ultimately, sexual harassment is about abuse of power, or the perception of power.
As we step into the future, let us have the courage to look closer at the vestiges of the past that are still clinging onto us and distorting our lives. We owe it to ourselves to embrace a greater, more mature expression of our humanity. The relationship between the sexes is the fundamental basis of the organization of our society. As long as dysfunction persists in this relationship, there will be a rot at the core of our society. It is my conviction that we are better than this behavior. Let us embrace our good intentions as a responsibility and an aspiration, rather than ends in themselves.
