"I came of age in the 60's and 70's, when all the rules about behavior (sic) and workplaces were different. That was the culture then…" - thus quotes Henry Weinstein. And I say that excuse is plain balderdash! Weinstein is all of 4 years older than I am so we experienced the same "coming of age". I was disgusted, dismayed and appalled when I was sexually harassed at work in my teens and twenties. Sexual harassment was not the cultural norm, nor was it an accepted mode of behaviour. Weinstein believed he was entitled to behave in this manner because he was in a position of power and authority, not that it was the right or accepted thing to do.
Let me be perfectly clear - this is not a male-bashing post. I find it equally offensive when women, especially women in a position of power, treat men like a piece of meat. If it is not acceptable for men to treat women in such a fashion, in what universe does it become OK for women to treat men that way? To use the excuse that "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" is no excuse. If one is treated with bigotry, you do not in turn treat others with bigotry. If we do so, the problem will just continue to compound.
I was raised by parents who "came of age" in the 1940's. I was raised by a father who taught his daughters that we were capable of achieving anything that we put our minds to. That we were equally as intelligent and strong as any man. As a man who lost his father at the age of three, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both bright and strong women. He taught us that we must learn to rely on our own abilities as one never knows that life has in store for you. He impressed upon us the importance of education and a career. He showed us by example that women are to be treated with respect. Both of our parents demonstrated that they were equal partners in their marriage and in life.
How lucky am I to have had such role models.
Let me be perfectly clear - this is not a male-bashing post. I find it equally offensive when women, especially women in a position of power, treat men like a piece of meat. If it is not acceptable for men to treat women in such a fashion, in what universe does it become OK for women to treat men that way? To use the excuse that "What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander" is no excuse. If one is treated with bigotry, you do not in turn treat others with bigotry. If we do so, the problem will just continue to compound.
I was raised by parents who "came of age" in the 1940's. I was raised by a father who taught his daughters that we were capable of achieving anything that we put our minds to. That we were equally as intelligent and strong as any man. As a man who lost his father at the age of three, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both bright and strong women. He taught us that we must learn to rely on our own abilities as one never knows that life has in store for you. He impressed upon us the importance of education and a career. He showed us by example that women are to be treated with respect. Both of our parents demonstrated that they were equal partners in their marriage and in life.
How lucky am I to have had such role models.
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