He had written several books about political theory and that's what I wanted to study in graduate school. When he invited me for coffee, I assumed it was because I was the smartest one in the class. But once we sat down, it wasn't my application to graduate school or Max Weber that he wanted to talk about—it was his wife.
She did not want to have sex with him but they had a daughter and he didn't want to get divorced. Instead, he had developed a way of managing the relationship: He taught summer school in the United States while his wife and daughter remained in Italy. He didn't quite say it overtly but even through his thickly accented English, I realized he taught summer school in order to have affairs with students abroad.
I had no intention of having sex with him but I needed recommendations for graduate school and I did not want to alienate him. I needed him! This is the bind that working women have been in for generations. African-American women have been subject to rape and sexual assault since slavery began in this country. Sadly, it only became an issue worthy of legal action in the 1960s when women's liberation resulted in so many white women opting for careers rather than being stay-at-home moms. Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights law defines sexual harassment: "Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual's employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment."
Title VII could not have been passed during World War II when the female labor force grew by 50 percent because so many men were fighting the war. It could not have passed in 1950 when, because of the return of so many men from the war, female labor force participation fell to 34 percent (predominantly unmarried women). Even after the law was passed, few women came forward to press charges of sexual harassment. No wonder! In 1991, we watched as Clarence Thomas characterized his treatment before the all-white, all-male Senate Judiciary Committee as a “high-tech lynching for uppity blacks," while Anita Hill was compelled to recount the explicit details of her allegations during humiliating questioning by the Senators Specter, Simpson, and even Biden on national television with 20 million viewers. They condescendingly insisted that if Hill was telling the truth, she would have reported it when it happened rather than waiting so many years to talk about it. Simpson went on to say, ”Why in God's name would you ever speak to a man like this for the rest of your life?"
I knew why she spoke to him after the harassment. I yelled at the television set. I cursed at the male senators. I knew that she talked to him because she needed him for her career, just like I did! I talked to that professor because I needed a recommendation for graduate school; a fellowship; my first teaching job; my first promotion; tenure. I needed him and that's why I kept talking to him.
Source: Nick Karvounos/Unsplash A dozen women have alleged that President Trump acted inappropriately or, in some cases, assaulted them. He insisted they were all liars and he got elected. But there seems to be a change afoot. Beginning with the reports about Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis CK, Roy Moore, and now Senator Al Franken, Charlie Rose, Glenn Thrush, Congressman John Conyers, more women (and men) are coming forward with allegations of sexual harassment. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand recently said that President Clinton should have resigned in light of the Lewinsky affair. Indeed, we are finally experiencing a sea change in the reporting of sexual harassment. It is finally being taken seriously.
I think there are two reasons. First, there is a critical mass phenomenon. It is not one woman (Anita Hill) bringing charges. More and more women are coming forward and with each new allegation, other women are encouraged. I am not alone. Maybe now they will believe me! Second, the demographics have changed. More women are working and a vast majority of them have experienced some level of sexual harassment. Presently, 56.7 percent of women are in the labor force, about 10 percentage points higher than 40 years ago. For mothers, the increase is much steeper: 69.9 percent of mothers with children under age 18 are in the labor force, up from 47.4 percent. More women in the workforce means that more women experience sexual harassment and there are more women managers and corporate officers to respond to their complaints.
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