
Unintended Consequences of Sexual Harassment Scandals - dmitrygr
https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/10/09/upshot/as-sexual-harassment-scandals-spook-men-it-can-backfire-for-women.html
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legostormtroopr
Is this really a surprise to anyone?

Donglegate really hit home that if you get the wrong people on Twitter mad,
they will make life hell for you[1]. You might agree that a dongle joke is
inappropriate, but the entire backlash on all sides was massively overblown
and led to 3 people being fired.

If you make the wrong statement to the wrong person at the wrong time, you
might be on the wrong end of an outrage mob. This doesn't even include the
messy optics of a man and woman meeting at odd hours in private settings for
mentoring meetings. If a nosy third-party decides to speak up on someone
else's behalf all of the above still applies, even if its all above board and
neither party has an issue.

Better to just keep all meetings with people you don't know or don't trust
entirely professional and kept within the workplace.

[1]
[http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/pycon-2013-sexis...](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/pycon-2013-sexism-
dongle-richards/)

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hmahncke
The men who've gotten into trouble for sexual harassment didn't just share
"cabs, travel, lunches, projects or get-togethers over coffee" or have "solo
meetings with female entrepreneurs, potential recruits and those who ask for
an informational or networking meeting." I can't think of a VC or movie
producer who's been accused of sexual harassment because they were a great
mentor.

~~~
dmitrygr
But some have been accused for political gain (see: Julian Assange)

~~~
Frondo
Really? Who's come out ahead for going public with Julian Assange having raped
them? Which of the two women at the center of his swedish rape case has
achieved political gain?

~~~
dmitrygr
They both recanted and the prosecutor, looking for political gain, FORCED then
to be part of it.

~~~
joshuamorton
Source for that? I can't find one.

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neilk
The problem is harassment.

This article is talking about men avoiding being alone with women, to avoid
the suspicion of third parties. Not really related to harassment.

It would make sense if the concern was false accusations. They don't come out
and say that. Maybe because that would be transparently sexist. Any colleague
can accuse you of anything that happens in private. Furthermore, in these high
profile cases, it's not a matter of one disturbed woman pointing the finger
and ruining an innocent man's life. It's multiple accusers coming forward,
showing a pattern of behavior over decades, at great risk to their careers.
Are we really going to argue that the pendulum has swung too far?

Side note: the article is curiously anachronistic, talking about "the opposite
sex", as if everyone were straight. Also, when you think about it, the root
problem is still sexism, this time a stereotype about men (the idea that a man
can't have a professional relationship with a woman).

~~~
whipoodle
> Any colleague can accuse you of anything that happens in private.

Right, exactly. That can be a problem in addition to the larger problem of the
actual harassment.

And, the harassment has been such a problem for so long (pretty much forever)
that it makes sense to me that a) people are trying different ways of working
in order to address it, and b) that those ways have unintended consequences.

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squozzer
The consequences might have been unintentional, but surely they were
foreseeable.

It's not reasonable to expect anyone to accept increased risk for zero
increased upside.

And rightly or wrongly, this is what harrassment and assault allegations
present.

Sadly, the article, like many others on this topic, doesn't suggest much in
the way of solutions or even a path towards a solution, so here's my
suggestion -- chaperoning. Or maybe a virtual version, with video cams
everywhere, a la the UK.

I know, it sounds like I'm planning a middle-school dance.

~~~
whipoodle
I disagree, it did talk about ways of fixing it. One idea was to have a
designated place for mentors and mentees to meet, so that it's normal for
people to be seen meeting at that place one-on-one.

~~~
squozzer
Please consider me properly chastised. I still think we should replace one-on-
ones with something having better safeguards.

