Posts Tagged ‘ Sexual harassment ’

You’re going to want to eat that porterhouse steak

Dec 20th, 2017 11:21 am | By

People have been saying for weeks it’s not just Hollywood and journalism and broadcasting, it’s also the less glam places where most people work. Like factories for instance; like automobile factories; like Ford.

The jobs were the best they would ever have: collecting union wages while working at Ford, one of America’s most storied companies. But inside two Chicago plants, the women found menace.

Bosses and fellow laborers treated them as property or prey. Men crudely commented on their breasts and buttocks; graffiti of

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So that women are not silenced on the new streets of social media

Dec 18th, 2015 10:46 am | By

MP Yvette Cooper in the Guardian on social media harassment of women:

The comedian Kate Smurthwaite received 2,000 abusive tweets for objecting when a men’s rights activist called her “darling” in a TV debate. Some called her “bitch”, “slut”, “harpy”; some were explicit threats of violence and rape.

I remember that. It was The Big Question, and it was Milo Yiannopoulos who called her “darling” in a patronizingly insulting way.

After going on Question Time, the historian Mary Beard received hundreds of messages attacking her appearance. And the scientist Emily Grossman received so many hostile, sexist tweets when she talked about sexism in science, she was forced to take a break from social media.

I remember those, too. I’ve … Read the rest



It all depends on when you start the clock

Oct 18th, 2015 10:11 am | By

Katy Murphy and Thomas Peele at Inside Bay Area ask if the “swift” departure of Geoff Marcy signals “a profound shift in how society reacts and responds to sexual harassment and abuse on campus and in corporate boardrooms?”

No, it doesn’t, because it wasn’t “swift” at all. It took years. See astrokatey on Twitter:

Katey the Astronomer ‏@astrokatey Oct 16
@dalcantonjd 3 years to compile stories. 3 to find ppl willing to come forward. Hours of phone convos about strategy. It succeeded.

Three stinkin’ years, and all that hard work. This is no swift departure.

Back to Murphy and Peele:

But in a flash last week, the white-hot glare of social media revealed the darker side of the

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She said no

Oct 15th, 2015 10:43 am | By

The Chronicle of Higher Education tells us that astronomy colleagues have been trying hard to get Geoff Marcy to stop being a creep for a long time.

Ruth Murray-Clay, an assistant professor of physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara who earned a Ph.D. in astrophysics on the system’s Berkeley campus in 2008, says it was in 2004 that she first decided to approach Mr. Marcy about what she saw as his inappropriate behavior with young women. Ms. Murray-Clay was the graduate-student representative to Berkeley’s astronomy faculty at the time and was meeting with students about putting together an annual holiday play in which they would poke fun at faculty members.

“Someone suggested putting in a joke about

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Social consciousness is part of his identity

Oct 13th, 2015 11:31 am | By

From a long piece on Geoff Marcy in the New York Times in May 2014:

Dr. Marcy lives high in the Berkeley hills with Dr. Kegley, “wife, chemist, goddess,” as he puts it on his website — an environmental chemist and chief executive of the consulting firm Pesticide Research Institute. Their backyard is home to beehives decorated with astronomical symbols, and a flock of chickens, leading the son of one of his graduate students to call him “Chicken Geoff.”

Social consciousness is part of his identity. At Santa Cruz he ran around plastering “Men Against Rape” stickers over nude pinups in the engineering and optics shops.

Hmmm.… Read the rest



The Serial Harasser’s Playbook

Oct 13th, 2015 10:21 am | By

A former graduate student of Geoff Marcy’s has more details.

Based on the stories I’ve heard from women who don’t know each other, but share eerily similar experiences, I put together a Serial Harasser’s Playbook. Most of the stories I heard before writing that post were related to one specific colleague: my former adviser Geoff Marcy. Thus, the Serial Harasser’s Playbook I posted is seemingly Geoff’s playbook. To be clear, many harassers employ such a strategy. But Geoff is the person most commonly named by targets with whom I’ve spoken.

Famous Berkeley Astronomer Violated Sexual Harassment Policies Over Many Years, University Investigation Finds

After [I published] the Playbook post, most of the people who contacted me with additional

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“We meant you no harm”

Mar 3rd, 2014 6:17 pm | By

The CBC reports a student union leader at the University of Ottawa, Anne-Marie Roy, was anonymously sent screenshots of a Facebook conversation about her among five male students who are also student leaders. It was an unpleasant conversation from her point of view.

The online conversation — a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press — included references to sexual activities some of the five individuals wrote they would like to engage in with Roy, including oral and anal sex, as well as suggestions that she suffered from sexually transmitted diseases.

“Someone punish her with their shaft,” wrote one of the individuals at one point. “I do believe that with my reputation I would destroy her,” wrote another.

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



What is “toxic feminism”?

Jan 2nd, 2014 12:26 pm | By

Yesterday was happy new year, so it was a time for new beginnings and startings over. (But was it? Was it? Was it really? No, not really, but maybe starting a new calendar is enough to make it seem as if it is.) One starting over was that of Bora Zivkovic, who returned to Twitter for the first time since October 16. His first new beginning tweet heralded a blog post by Anton Zuiker, the co-founder (with Bora Z) of Science Online.

Bora Zivkovic @BoraZ

From @mistersugar, the best friend one can ever hope to have: Roots and bitters http://mistersugar.com/2014/01/01/roots-and-bitters … Happy New Year!

Roots and bitters is a long (5500 words according to Zuiker) post about…Bora Zivkovic, mostly, … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



One of 18 women

Aug 28th, 2013 11:14 am | By

It’s everywhere. There’s the mayor of San Diego, for another example.

A San Diego parks employee who says Mayor Bob Filner put her in a headlock and rubbed against her breasts at a public event this year filed a $500,000 battery and sexual harassment claim against the city on Monday, her attorney said.

Stacy McKenzie, one of 18 women who accuse Filner of making unwanted sexual advances, is the second in two months to initiate legal action against the embattled politician. Her claim is the precursor to a lawsuit.

Filner, a former Democratic congressman who was elected mayor of California’s second-largest city last year, announced on Friday that he would step down effective August 30 as part of a

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Passim

Aug 25th, 2013 12:44 pm | By

It’s everywhere.

It’s in the RCMP.

A Mountie whose harassment complaints against the RCMP prompted legislation to modernize so-called bad apples within the force says her employer is moving to dismiss her.

Cpl. Catherine Galliford says she received a letter saying the RCMP is seeking to discharge her because she’s unable to do her job.

Galliford, who has filed a civil lawsuit against the RCMP alleging years of bullying and sexual abuse, has been on sick leave since 2006.

Let’s follow the details. The CBC reports in November 2011.

CBC News has learned that one of B.C.’s highest profile Mounties says she’s suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after years of sexual harassment.

Cpl. Catherine Galliford was the face

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



People do talk

Aug 22nd, 2013 11:23 am | By

Russell Glasser was pointing out on Twitter a couple of days ago that it’s not the case that “People only go to the police. They never talk about their stories in blogs or articles.” He provided examples of the contrary: of the preliminary stage (which can last years) when people and groups do indeed make claims in public without/before going to the police.

Like SNAP for instance. Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Just one item on their front page -

Abuse victims and SNAP are being attacked by lawyers for KC Bishop Robert Finn and pedophile priests. We’re fighting hard to protect the confidentiality of victims, witnesses, whistleblowers, police, prosecutors, journalists and others who come to us for

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Not prepared for what happened

Aug 20th, 2013 5:08 pm | By

A major problem with Massimo’s post, as commenters reminded me, is that it’s no good just looking around and saying X doesn’t have a particularly bad sexual harassment problem when we know that most sexual harassment is hidden. It’s a secret. It’s done when no one else is watching.

That’s not a reason to go all Recovered Memory, devil-worship in the day care center, arrest all the people. But it is a reason not to take a look at the surface of things and decide that everything’s pretty much ok.

Jennifer Saul made a point of saying that she was surprised by the stories of harassment that poured in when she started the What is it like Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



The serial harassers who suffer no loss to their career

Aug 19th, 2013 3:22 pm | By

Salon, very sensibly, decided to ask Jennifer Saul to explain about sexual harassment in philosophy. Saul is the philosopher who set up the blog “What is it like to be a woman in philosophy?”.

 Inspired by discussions with other women philosophers who were worried about the gender  gap in our discipline, I set up a blog where philosophers (of any gender) could share anonymous stories — positive or negative — about what it is like to be a woman in philosophy. I was not prepared for what happened.

Almost instantly, I was deluged with stories of sexual harassment.  There was the job candidate who said she was sexually assaulted at the annual APA meeting where job interviews take

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



“Maybe you misread him?”

Aug 6th, 2013 11:30 am | By

Update: Ok I knew this when I wrote the post but I refrained from saying so (for the time being), but PZ posted about it a little before I did and he got a ton of emails all saying is it ___? and saying the same name. The guy in this account is Ben Radford.

____________________________________________________________

Oh gosh, sexual harassment again. Again? Yes, again. (Also, still.)

Karen Stollznow reports on hers at the SciAm blog.

“I was sexually harassed for four years,” I admitted to  a colleague recently. “That’s awful!” he bellowed in outrage and  genuine concern, before he promptly changed the subject. Sexual harassment  is an uncomfortable topic to discuss with colleagues, especially when you’re the victim.

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



No “dialogue” to be had

May 13th, 2013 12:06 pm | By

Rebecca has a post about the fetish for “dialogue” which starts with some great tweets by Jeff Sharlet pointing out how stupid the fetish is.

What I keep saying. There is no “dialogue” to be had with people who just enjoy harassing people. They’re not confused or uninformed, they’re just people of that type, who have found a safe way to engage in harassy behavior without paying any social costs. That’s all. Normally adults have to give up that kind of thing, or displace it into more covert and disguised forms like office politics. They are very lucky to be alive now when it’s possible to go on acting like a pubescent shit for the rest of your life. Trying … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Understanding understanding harassment

Mar 26th, 2013 10:14 am | By

Update March 27 – the tweet was a mistake, and does not reflect AAI’s views on harassment. See comment 33.

Update 2 See also AAI’s post on the subject.*

______________

Aaaaaaaaand there’s this.

Atheist Alliance Int

Understanding Harassment | Atheist Revolution

And it links to the article at Atheist Revolution. There “vjack” explains what harassment is. Guess what!! It just so happens that it’s none of the things that the people I call harassers are doing to us! Is that a coincidence or what.

No, it’s not. It’s the whole point. Understanding Harassment=harassment is not what I’m doing to you.

How fucking convenient.

vjack is worried about the word.

The word “harassment” is being thrown around quite a bit

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(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



Just stay home

Feb 12th, 2013 10:40 am | By

More from those fun-loving woman-haters in Egypt.

Shura Council’s human rights committee members said on Monday that women taking part in protests bear the responsibility of being sexually harassed, describing what happens in some demonstrators’ tents as “prostitution.”

Major General Adel Afify, member of the committee representing the Salafi Asala Party, criticized female protesters, saying that they “know they are among thugs. They should protect themselves before requesting that the Interior Ministry does so. By getting herself involved in such circumstances, the woman has 100 percent responsibility.”

That’s right! By engaging in protest, women are formally requesting to be raped. If they don’t want to be raped, all they have to do is  stop participating in political life. What’s … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)



No one to control them

Feb 12th, 2013 9:19 am | By

When in doubt, harass women.

Shahira Amin has an article at Index on Censorship about the harassment of women in Tahrir Square.

Egyptian Salafi preacher Ahmed Mahmoud Abdulla — known as Abou Islam — recently made remarks justifying sexual violence against female protesters in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, claiming that women who join protests are asking “to get raped”…

In a video posted online last Wednesday, Abdulla said that women who join the protests are “either crusaders who have no shame or widows who have no one to control them”. He also described them as “devils”, and added that “they talk like monsters”.

Yes that’s right, just throw everything. It all sticks, so it’s all good to throw.

It’s interesting … Read the rest

(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)