Sally Kohn recently wrote a piece for The Washington Post stating that sexual harassment should be treated as equal as a hate crime…
I find it hard to believe that Kohn would understand the woes of sexual harassment but maybe that’s just me? Wait.. was that a hate crime I just did? Nah…
According to her article, “We have to stop seeing sexual harassment and sexual assault as some sort of flattery of women gone awry. In truth, sexual assault has nothing to do with sex, or sexuality, or flirting, or courtship, or love. Rather, sexual assault is a kind of hate. The men who gratify themselves by abusing women aren’t getting off on those women, but on power. These men don’t sexually assault women because they like women but because they despise them as subordinate creatures. We should call it misogynistic harassment and misogynistic assault, not sexual assault. These are hate crimes.”
As reported by Hot Air:
Now, it’s fair to say that Harvey Weinstein did harass plenty of men, in the sense that he apparently screamed at and threatened both sexes. But, at least so far, we haven’t heard a report of him demanding sex in a hotel room from a male actor. So, again, sex is still a big part of this. Having started on this shaky foundation, Kohn continues building from there.
“If we understand that these crimes are the result of targeted hate, rather than misguided lust, we can devise better solutions than the kind of “treatment” Harvey Weinstein is supposedly receiving for his “problem.” The way to combat hate is not (only) through enforcement against individual perpetrators. We need to fight the misogyny, sexism and the systemic marginalization of women and disproportionate empowerment of men. That’s what creates the society-wide dynamic in which men think they’re better than women. This dynamic is evident in gender pay gaps; in the unequal burden of domestic chores; in the election of overt misogynists to the presidency; and in the subjection of women to harassment, assault and rape.”
I partially agree with what she’s saying here, in as far as I don’t think “sexual addiction” is a disease that can be treated the way an actual disease is treated. Harvey Weinstein’s efforts at “treatment” seems like a PR move to me. And of course, misogyny and sexism are bad things that no one should support. She starts to lose me when she returns to the pay gap issue (which often involves choices made by individual women) or domestic chores. I do the dishes in my house.
