Sarah Vine: ‘If this hysterical Westminster witch hunt is what a world run by women looks like, count me out’

[gluteustothemaximus]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5037545/SARAH-VINE-hysterical-Westminster-witch-hunt.html#ixzz4xIfYLwOP

Sorry. I should know better than to get wound up by the daily mail, or Sarah Vine.

Lines like: What started as a WhatsApp group of parliamentary employees swapping notes on their bosses has turned into a mob of aggrieved ‘victims’ claiming a million sexual micro-aggressions against a number of unnamed individuals who, it seems, are not even allowed to know where they are supposed to have overstepped the mark.

Poor menz. Not knowing what constitutes sexual harassment.

Or perhaps that depends on your point of view. Because there is a strong cultural and generational element to this, too. Most of the accused are over 40; most of the accusers are in their 20s. In other words, it’s the revenge of the millennials, many of whom will have had their senses of humour surgically removed at university.

Riiight. So anyone who is harassed, doesn’t have a sense of humour if they don’t laugh it off?

Like that stupid ‘Metoo’ hashtag that started trending after the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke, these are not real expressions of emancipation: they are empty, attention-seeking gestures

I tweeted about my rape. I can assure you it wasn’t attention seeking.

AIBU to be sad that some women, like sarah, feel like this?

God, we have along way to go.

[CertainHalfDesertedStreets]

Thank you for the flowers pale - they are weirdly comforting virtual flowers!

Vicki Featherstone in the Guardian this morning.

www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/nov/04/royal-court-vicky-featherstone-we-all-knew-about-sexual-harassment

this is how I feel. Her anger. And her sense of having had the scales lifted from her eyes. That's it.

[CaptainWarbeck]

That's a good article certain.

[Datun]

Yes, excellent article certain.

Obviously heartfelt and so genuine. I warmed to her, immediately.

[badbadhusky]

I thought the Featherstone article was great too. Interesting too how both her husband and 18 yo son were both crystal clear that men know when they are crossing women’s boundaries or being non-platonic in their words & deeds.

[Datun]

badbadhusky

Yes. This is what I’m finding very revealing. Men justify, bang on, pontificate. But when you say would you do that to a man, it brings them up short.

Because they know full well they would never do it to a man.

So the next question is, why not?

And the answer is obvious.

It very neatly forces them to bring up a motive.

And that motive, can never be it’s just banter, it’s a joke, it’s just being friendly.

It’s patently obvious to women. But forcing men to answer that series of questions reveals it.

[MissEliza]

I haven’t RTFT but I’d just to add my two pence. The news has been dominated by so called ‘revelations’ about sexual harassment in Hollywood and now Westminster. I am frustrated that this hasn’t really translated into a public discussion about sexual harassment in society in general and in the workplace. I don’t know a single woman who hasn’t had an encounter at work which made her feel uncomfortable at a minimum. More importantly I know people who’ve made complaints at work which were not dealt with properly. My best friend had to leave her job in a relatively small company because her complaint of harassment by a sales manager weren’t dealt with at all. It caused her stress, really knocked her confidence and her career flatlined. Women who work in low paid jobs or small companies are particularly vulnerable as even if procedures are in place, they don’t feel able to stand up for themselves. I’d give TM a massive hug if she said she wanted to do something to stamp out sexual harassment in the workplace but sadly, that’s not going to happen. The press are more interested in a witch hunt than dealing with the real issues.

[Paleninteresting]

Graphista. I hear you about Deepcut. I can also add school, Aircadets, nurse education placements, nursing, neighbours, Tesco delivery drivers and holiday reps.
It seems that men have done this in male and female dominated areas anywhere they have some power, however tiny. I am angry at myself for not seeing it for what it was in my teens and early twenties.

[shhhfastasleep]

I said to a male colleague recently that I doubted there was a single woman in the room (big room, mix of men and women , variety of ages etc) who hadn’t experienced some form of sexual harassment. He was horrified.

[McTufty]

@makeourfuture

It already is a civil wrong - section 26 Equality Act. And I can assure you that employment tribunal judges are for the most part very enlightened in this area and would come down like a tonne of bricks on anyone who excused this kind of shit as “banter”. County court judges come across it less so maybe more work to be done there.

[OldPony]

I used to work in Whitehall. There was a young woman who had been repeatedly harassed by an MP. She reported to our Perm Sec who instantly told her to get another job and tell no one or she'd never work again.

This was a pretty clear message to the rest of us. If anyone is interested the department was DH and the Perm Sec was HT.

[badbadhusky]

Was the same MP on the recent spreadsheet, Pony? (If you can risk saying yea/nay.)

[OldPony]

I haven't checked but the MP's initials are IL.

[HornyTortoise]

Interesting too how both her husband and 18 yo son were both crystal clear that men know when they are crossing women’s boundaries or being non-platonic in their words & deeds.

Of course men know. Its ridiculous this 'I cant say hello to a woman incase I am sacked in 20 years for it' rubbish that a scary amount of men are coming out with. Lets not make out that men are these poor victimized naive creatures who do not understand the difference between sexual harassment and normal behavior who are all about to just be picked on by evil women with an agenda. Its pathetic.

[badbadhusky]

I guess what these men are getting at is that it’s getting harder to tell whether the woman concerned is going to smile wanly and swallow the humiliation or rip their fucking throat out and/or march straight to HR, whereas in the good old days you rarely encountered a “live wire” and could get away with it. Perish the thought that we tell it like we see it & have a voice!

[whatabreakthrough]

I’d be surprised if someone enterprising doesn’t sell the full list to the foreign press, then it will come out online.

There must be lots of famous men who're absolutely shitting themselves at the moment.
There will be a few people not sleeping very well these days.

[whatabreakthrough]

Or how about - Men just do not touch women in the workplace

It's not only the touching, it's all the rude innuendo.
It all needs to stop.
It was never acceptable in the first place.

[MissEliza]

I actually find innuendo, dirty jokes and foul language even more demeaning than groping although I may me alone in that opinion.

[user1497863568]

They are scared that the whole population has cottoned on to their power structure of pedophilia, abuse and warmongering shite. Which we have for a long time actually but they are now terrified of the demographic consquences. Bunch of collaborating bullies.

[CertainHalfDesertedStreets]

There's an IL being talked about in some of the reports today...

[Dozer]

Trump was elected despite being recorded boasting about sexually assaulting women. Grim.

[OlennasWimple]

The unredacted list has been online for a few days now

[Graphista]

Misseliza

You really should read the whole thread, everything you mention has been discussed not just Hollywood/Westminster.

[Dozer]

The Times today has an annoying (understatement) article by Clare Foges: “the sisterhood is turning women into victims” and making it less likely businesses will employ women. Eg “when women are ‘empowered’ to label the most minor incidents [she later gives knee “brushing” as an example] as sexual assault, half the population is cast as potential victims, not as leaders.”

“The more women are deemed hypersensitive the riskier they will seem to employers”.

Times is poor at women and equality issues in general, and this journalist seems to have internalised some dodgy 1970s employer attitudes, but it’s still depressing.

[Dozer]

The media, like film, is known for inequality: no articles about abusive men in the media (yet).

[gluteustothemaximus]

Another bunch of bullshit from the daily mail.

www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-5050887/What-women-gain-squawking-sex-pests-Niqab.html

Apparently we need to wear burkas now