It's No Accident that Sexual Harassers Rise Up the Ranks
As the sexual harassment reckoning continues to sweep the country, with new men outed and more women coming forward every day, people are rightfully asking how it’s possible that these abusers were able flourish for so long.
Across industries, men accused of rape, harassment and the most disgusting sorts of behavior rose the ranks seemingly without notice. They were promoted time and again, amassing power at work, even though their abuse of women was often an “open secret.”
Perhaps it’s time to consider that abusive men aren’t rising to the top in spite of their disdain for women, but because of it. In a country where domineering bravado and casual misogyny can land a man in the White House, it’s not unreasonable to believe that this kind of behavior in men not only goes unpunished - but that it’s actively rewarded.
For too long, we’ve lauded men’s domination and aggressiveness as a sign of leadership rather than possible red flags. When men talk over everyone else in a room, we call it confidence rather than entitlement. If they berate others in meetings, we call them powerful and passionate, not bullying. And when they treat women at work differently than they do men, we’re told that they’re not sexist - they’re just “old-school.”
Instead of venerating men who exhibit domineering attitudes at work, what if we saw their behavior as a warning sign? After all, experts and research tell us that harassers and sexual abusers often adhere to traditional gender roles, that they’re likely narcissists, and that they exhibit behaviors consistent with particular kinds of over-the-top masculinity.
In other words, we have a pretty good idea of what a harasser might act like at work. So why not do something about it?
Roy Price, ousted at Amazon for harassment, wasn’t just accused of sexism in his interactions with women but in the way he chose programming. And Mark Halperin, accused by multiple women of harassment, once argued that there was “nothing illegal” about Donald Trump’s alleged groping.
This isn’t to say that we should only be wary of men who yell or hold explicitly sexist views. NPR is arguably one of the most progressive bastions of media around, yet when senior vice president Michael Oreskes was known to harass women, he was simply given a “father-son talking to” by another editor.
What would happen if we stopped viewing these kinds of behaviors as the remnants of men from “another era,” stopped excusing them as less-than-charming side effects of idiosyncratic brilliance?
It’s true, there’s nothing illegal about being a boor or a sexist jerk. You can’t fire someone for being an asshole. But you can notice particular kinds of bad behavior and flag them as a problem, rather than a boon, for a man’s career.
You can question the wisdom of a workplace that rewards people who act abusively. Doing so would not only make women feel more comfortable and supported to come forward if they are harassed, but it could help stop the horrific cycle of promoting the worst kinds of men to the best kinds of jobs.
To do all this, of course, the culture more broadly has to abandon the idea that being “manly” is synonymous with being dominating. It’s a tall order, but a necessary one.
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