Tammy Camp, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, or as many know her, the “Lara Croft” of social media [...]Who knows where they got that from - I couldn't find any sort of original source; all the results are "According to Forbes, [she] is often described as..." etc.
I want a doughnut so I can eat it while waiting for you to read immlasses like.I don't really understand immlass's link, to be honest. It hinges on the idea that low-status women don't care if they're fired, and I can't see any good reason that would be true. Other people have pointed out that DSK's accuser is in a union, and that might be why she felt empowered to come forward. But otherwise? She has a fair amount of seniority at a unionized job that probably pays relatively well and offers some benefits. That's not something you just throw away blithely.
When my mom was a grad student, one of her professors actually attacked her in a hallway, pushing her up against a wall and squeezing her breasts. She kneed him in the nuts and filed a formal complaint in conjunction with two other women with similar experiences. It went nowhere. The admin suggested they had mental problems, but agreed this paricular professor would remove himself from their advisory committees. Years later, he raped a student on a trip to a conference. She sued him, but he died meanwhile of cancer. So she sued the university, who claimed they had no idea he was a sexual pedator. This woman found many many formal complaints about the guy when she subpoenaed his records. My mom testified at the trial. Here's the thing. My father-in-law works at the same university. His best friend works in the same department as dead asshole. He just could not believe it. He kept saying that these things were impossible, that it could not have happened. That in his experience, no one harassed like that at the university. It wasn't true. When I pointed out all the evidence, when I pointed out my own mom's experience, he was just flummoxed. For some men, good men especially, who are incapable of being other than ethical, the rotten behavior of the harrassers is just invisible.posted by cashman at 8:09 AM on May 22, 2011 [17 favorites]
Sean: Unfortunately, it’s likely to only change when someone speaks out and names names (easy for me to say since I’m not living in the valley or eating at the tech trough).I think Amy and Tammy are right. The incident she's describing is inherently unverifiable (probably), and one woman's say-so and against some guy's is unlikely to accomplish much. But a group of women making specific complaints against specific repeat offenders could be much more effective, and could result in some actual house cleaning.
Tammy: You could be right. I’ve received an alarming amount of emails from women in Silicon Valley who are experiencing the same thing. Wonder if stepping forward together might work?
Amy: Absolutely. It’s only when women join together and speak up that anything changes. Unfortunately, these days, women seem too anxious to compete with one another and don’t want to be seen as rocking the boat.
I'm sorry to hear that, but heartened to know there are people - women and men - who take this far more seriously than you seem to, and are far more willing to cross the line many of you seem to want to hide behind.And you, of course, will never have to cross that line, because you live on the other side of it. You will never have to face those hard choices, and you will never have to figure out how to pay your bills if you gamble wrong. But congratulations on having the guts to demand that other people put their careers and livelihoods on the line. You sure taught us all a lesson in courage.
I think that unless you're prepared to pay a person's lost income, in my opinion you shouldn'tAnyway, I'd like to know your answer to this question: How, literally, are women supposed to pay their bills when they report harassment and are passed up for promotion, get their hours cut, are forced to quit or are fired? In my second example above, I dropped the issue after my boss said he wouldn't do anything, because he was my only decent employment reference and I didn't want to get fired. I had no savings and I would have lost my apartment. What precisely was I supposed to do?don't get tocriticize them for not reporting sexual harassment.
No, sorry, you stilldon'tshouldn't.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 5:18 PM on May 21, 2011