Men: Answer #MeToo With #IWill
I woke up this morning to find that literally every woman on my social media posts #MeToo in response to Alyssa Milano’s tweet:
The sheer volume of responses may be eye-opening for some men, but I don’t think women were particularly surprised by Harvey Weinstein’s accusations, and I don’t think women are particularly surprised by the number of women who claim to have been assaulted and harassed. It is common knowledge among some groups of people that harassment and assault is standard practice in schools, at work, at social events, on public transport … almost everywhere in everyday life.
Perhaps one of the reasons men don’t speak up is because they don’t understand the severity of the problem: they don’t think this is really happening, or that it doesn’t really matter, or that women somehow actually do. unfairly benefit from such attention. Or even when faced with crystal clear evidence of sexual harassment – for example, seeing their boss groping for their coworker – they either don’t know what to do, believing she can handle it on her own, or they are reluctant to take the risk. their own relationship through intervention.
Tamara Kofman Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, wrote last night:
She has since retweeted the replies. This is an encouraging series of tweets, even if the only real-life implications are that a few more people will be alerted to signs of sexual harassment in their jobs and social circles.
The only thing disappointing about #IWill? The answers are mostly from women.
Fortunately, if you, a man, need a little help, there have been many articles published lately on how to intervene in an unpleasant situation or defend someone who is being persecuted. Here are some good, concrete tips from Teen Vogue , such as “take a step forward, speak up” and “bring others in.”
And it’s helpful to just read about authorities that allow sexual harassment – for example, glorifying powerful men, or how standard nondisclosure agreements and workplace confidentiality agreements make reporting sexual harassment public or public, which is a violation of contract. At least you can say # I will read and believe the millions of women who have experienced this treatment.