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The fall of Harvey Weinstein and other celebrity sex monsters feels like a cultural turning point. The social contract between men and women is being rewritten before our eyes. There is a new resolve to make the workplace more respectful and equitable for women - for everyone.But there is also panic in the air, which could ruin this #metoo moment.
Statistics on workplace harassment are all over the map. A recent Newsweek/Wall Street Journal poll found that 48% of American women had been sexually harassed at work. Time.com ran with this statistic in a video showing American women at work in laboratories, factories and offices.It then declared: "Almost Half of the Working Women in America Have Been Harassed on the Job," accompanied by images of a menacing Harvey Weinstein — suggesting that vast numbers of American women are plagued by Weinstein-like predation.Except upon closer scrutiny, the Newsweek/WSJ poll showed nothing of the kind. It defined "harassment" very broadly. And women were asked if they had ever received "unwelcome sexual advances" at any point in their working lives. It did not distinguish between minor incidents and more serious cases of actionable harassment. And no time limit was given.The General Social Survey is one of the most trusted sources of data in the social sciences. In 2014, a random sample of Americans was asked a straightforward question: "In the last 12 months, were you sexually harassed by anyone while you were on the job?"To that question, only 3.6% of women said yes. That is down from 6.1% in 2002. These results do not suggest an epidemic. Nor even a trendline moving in the wrong direction.
We also need to expand our concern beyond white-collar workplaces. Both the Huffington Post and the Washington Post have documented widespread harassment endured by hotel maids, waitresses and other women working in the service industry. Often, the harassment comes not from coworkers or supervisors, but from crude patrons and customers.But we'll never have the great awakening we need to have if we succumb to the forces trying to turn this instead into a sex panic.New Yorker writer Masha Gessen, a victim of sexual violence, welcomes a new era of accountability. But, as she wrote, "I am also queer and I panic when I sniff sex panic."
Ted Kennedy is the only person with an actual confirmed kill in the war on women.
Study: A LOT Of Young People Think Compliments, Drink Invites Are Forms Of 'Sexual Harassment'The survey posed the question: "Would you consider it sexual harassment if a man, who was not a romantic partner, did the following to a woman?"Stunningly, over 1/3 of those polled ranging in age from 18-30 (male and female) said a man "commenting on attractiveness" would "always" or "usually" be a form of sexual harassment.When it came to asking a woman out for a drink, about one in four young males and about 12.5% of young females said it would "always" or "usually" be a form of sexual harassment. For reference, those polled in Sweden, Germany, and the U.K., all polled around 0% for this particular hypothetical.Additionally, about 50% of young men and woman considered a man looking at a woman's breasts to be "always" or "usually" sexual harassment.
