The Republican primaries are in full swing and the whole world is watching. After all, whoever is elected to retain or take up residence in the White House is an important issue for us non-U.S. folks as well. Looking back to three years ago I don’t think many would have predicted that Herman Cain would be a likely opponent for President Obama, as Mr. Cain was previously known for selling a lot of pizza, performing gospel pizza-themed songs, and having strong opinions on health care (which failed to take into account a little something called “class privilege”).
It took some time before the general public took much notice of Cain in the Republican primaries, but when they did he became an almost overnight hit. It’s still unclear to many liberal commentators, as well as those of us watching from Europe, how his seeming success is possible in light of his obvious incompetence coupled with a chain of gaffes and ads that are already legendary for their campiness. The image of Cain’s campaign manager puffing smoke straight into the camera was a big internet hit for a few days (following swiftly on the heels of his comments about “bla-bla stans”), but this was soon overshadowed by the numerous sexual harassment accusations against the politician. After these allegations came to light, Herman Cain was no longer the guy who owned the pizza company and had really bad ads. Instead, he became the guy who was being accused of sexual harassment and decided to ignore the whole thing, then the guy who claimed he remembered nothing, and finally the guy who set up a webpage to defame his accusers.
I never expected much of Mr. Cain and hope that he’ll never become the president of the U.S. My best guess is he’s “just a phase” and will soon disappear into political oblivion. At this point we have no way of knowing what actually happened and whether Herman Cain is guilty of sexually harassing a number of his employees and coworkers. However, what worries and upsets me even more than the accusations against Cain are the reactions of conservative commentators. The comments made by a number of very prominent Republicans are a sign of a deeply troubling way of thinking. And so, without further ado, here is my personal selection of the top (horrible, absolutely awful) three terrifying statements about sexual harassment:
1. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Rush Limbaugh’s words of wisdom concerning this issue:
“I tell you, you women, why don’t you just make it official, put on some burqas?… And I’ll guaran-damn-tee you nobody’ll touch you. You put on a burqa, and everybody’ll leave you alone, if that’s what you want.”
According to Limbaugh, it’s not the harasser who’s responsible for his hands touching places they shouldn’t be and his mouth saying words it shouldn’t be. It’s a woman’s fault for wearing things that forced some poor man to make comments and passes that are considered unacceptable by a bunch of hysterical liberals.
2. Iowa Representative Steve King’s ever-so thoughtful addition to this debate questions the very notion of sexual harassment. He basically claims that rich men’s opinions should always take precedence over any accusations made by potential victims concerning an abuse of power:
“It [sexual harassment] is a terrible concept, to define an action by the perception of the perceived victim.”
3. And finally, there’s Rand Paul, who thinks this is all the fault of humorless feminist men-haters:
“There are people now who hesitate to tell a joke to a woman in the workplace, any kind of joke, because it could be interpreted incorrectly. I don’t. I’m very cautious.”
Apparently “why did the chicken cross the road?” just doesn’t cut it anymore. Things just aren’t funny if they don’t debase women. It would seem that as far as Mr. Paul is concerned Anita Hill’s legacy is draining humor from the workplace.
These men are taking victim-blaming and denialism to a frightening level. Comments like this are infused with an exorbitant dose of misogyny and sexism. The underlying assumption is that women “ask for it” – what they wear, how they talk, or who they decide to go to dinner with puts them on display and means they have no right to control what happens to and is said about their own bodies. It’s terribly ironic that all this is happening almost exactly 20 years after Anita Hill’s groundbreaking testimony. I hate being pessimistic and going all “victim-feminism” on this, but as I hear what the American right is saying about the sexual harassment accusations against Cain, the thought haunts me that maybe not much has changed. On the other (optimistic) hand, however, a wave of “slut walks” has just swept the planet. Streets all over the world are filled with women and men loudly protesting that “no means no,” “yes means yes,” and rapists, not dresses, are responsible for sexual violence.
So at least this much is certain: sexual harassment in the workplace is an abuse of power and an act of sexual violence. What the victim wore, said, or did any time in her past is completely irrelevant and we need to continue to keep that in mind.
Maria M. Pawlowska is healthcare analyst with a passion for reproductive health and gender issues. Her articles on different aspects of reproductive and women’s rights have been published by The Maternal Health Task Force, RH Reality Check, HealthyPolicies, The European Pro-Choice Network, and The Good Men Project among others. Maria currently lives in London with her husband. You can reach her at: m.pawlowska@gatesscholar.org or on Twitter @MariaPawlowska.
Photo credit rogamuffin/Flickr
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