Sexual Assault/Harassment/Misconduct

Have you ever been sexually harassed?

  • Yes, more than once.

    Votes: 14 77.8%

  • Yes, once.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • I'm not sure.

    Votes: 1 5.6%

  • No, never.

    Votes: 3 16.7%
  • Total voters
    18
Today’s cartoon, by Zachary Kanin

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“I’m starting to think the Emperor knows he’s not wearing any clothes, he just wants us all to see his *****.”
 
Amy SF said:
Wow. How much more tone-deaf can anyone be?

(Well, Trump met with the NRA on the anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre, so there’s that. But there’s a different thread for that.)
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damn that made me laugh though! Arrogance, narcissism, and ignorance all wrapped in pizza dough!
I swear old Michael Symon better be ok. He's from around Cleveland and has always done so much charity and seems so truly nice. He's even given a thumbs up to plant based meals, although hasn't done much about them
 
Interesting article ....

Minnie Driver: men like Matt Damon 'cannot understand what abuse is like'

However, I would like to pose a question ...

the article said:
She added: “There is no hierarchy of abuse – that if a woman is raped [it] is much worse than if woman has a ***** exposed to her that she didn’t want or ask for … you cannot tell those women that one is supposed to feel worse than the other.
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Is that really the case?

That would IMO be similar to saying that a person who gets maimed by an attacker is "not supposed to feel worse" than a person who is beaten up by an attacker or given a black eye. Indeed, both are attacks, but one is likely much more severe than the other.

And, indeed, in any case of assault, they are all against the law and should and will be prosecuted ... but if somebody is admitted to the hospital after an attack, it is likely a felony, wheras if somebody slaps somebody else in the face, and after 10 minutes, you do not see any traces any more, it will likely not be handled the same.
 
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I don't agree with that specific comment by Minnie Driver, but I think the rest of her article is fair. I think her main focus is she means to say we should condemn all abuse and not be too forgiving of some types of abuse.

When Matt Damon says there is “a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation" of course that is correct, but the question is why he puts the emphasis on that, rather than condemning all. He adds "Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated.” I am not sure he is right about "conflated" though. Arguably they should be conflated.

I think Matt Damon is more in the wrong. However, I am not sure whether it helps to criticise him too harshly, as if to try and label him sexist and part of the problem (unless there is other reason beyond this comment to do so, which there may be). Maybe a more constructive criticism might be more productive. I am also worried that jumping too harshly on slightly imperfect comments is going to widen the conservative/liberal divide, whereas a more constructive debate might be more helpful. It certainly would be understandable for women to get mad at some comments like that though, especially when they have been a victim of groping themselves.
 
Andy_T said:
Interesting article ....

Minnie Driver: men like Matt Damon 'cannot understand what abuse is like'

However, I would like to pose a question ...



Is that really the case?

That would IMO be similar to saying that a person who gets maimed by an attacker is "not supposed to feel worse" than a person who is beaten up by an attacker or given a black eye. Indeed, both are attacks, but one is likely much more severe than the other.

And, indeed, in any case of assault, they are all against the law and should and will be prosecuted ... but if somebody is admitted to the hospital after an attack, it is likely a felony, wheras if somebody slaps somebody else in the face, and after 10 minutes, you do not see any traces any more, it will likely not be handled the same.
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I agree. There are degrees of sexual abuse, just as there are degrees of other bodily harm or property damage. None should be condoned, but I think it's counter productive to claim that a rape is the same as having one's butt patted. Maybe some of the victims of the latter feel as violated as the victims of the former, but that's not really the point. Someone whose car is keyed may feel as violated by that as someone whose house is entered, contents smashed and defecated and urinated all over, but the penalties for the two actions are going to be (rightfully) quite different.
 
I think people need to leave Matt Damon the hell alone. :( He's not accused of anything except offering awkward answers to uncomfortable questions. Stop putting the poor guy on the spot. He's got a wife and four daughters, so I'd assume he cares very much about the well-being of women.... and he does really good things, globally.

And on a completely selfish note, I am not ready for his career to be disrupted by this sh*t.... Lay off the Damon, dammit! :mad: LOL :p
 
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Reactions: Amy SF
I just read Matt Damons response and I'm absolutely in agreement.
This has been our culture for---ever, and women have been a part of it a well as the men in their own ways. It's all around, from movies and tv, to beauty shows that start with babies, modeling, Hooters, gentlemens clubs, strip clubs, magazines and porn.
I grew up in the era of Playboy, when I was a kid we'd play "charm school" and older sisters would teach how to 'switch' and flirt. How do you expect to condemn everyone who reacted to that culture?
Read Andrea Ramseys story. That's scary. I feared men like that more than macho men- the ones who feel overlooked and jealous of the attention women gave other men.
 
silva said:
I feared men like that more than macho men- the ones who feel overlooked and jealous of the attention women gave other men.
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Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Ms. Ramsey's version of events is the true one.

Do you really think that more men do something like that - bring a sexual harassment charge against a woman - than rape women? I don't think the numbers bear that out.
 
Mischief said:
Assuming, for the sake of argument, that Ms. Ramsey's version of events is the true one.

Do you really think that more men do something like that - bring a sexual harassment charge against a woman - than rape women? I don't think the numbers bear that out.
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Hell no! I didn't mean that but I see how that sounded....I meant that there seem to be a lot of type A kinda ladies men that fool around without meaning harm, and then there are men who don't get the attention that harbor resentments and are the scariest f'ers ever.

I have known enough men who've made up stories of turning down their woman supervisors attention as excuse for their lack of promotion. Whether this is the case for Ms Ramsey, I don't know, but it certainly sounds that way
I found Damon continued and he no longer has my support
 
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new comments:

"We're in this watershed moment, and it's great, but I think one thing that's not being talked about is there are a whole s---load of guys — the preponderance of men I've worked with — who don't do this kind of thing and whose lives aren't going to be affected," Damon told Business Insider while promoting his new movie, "Downsizing," opening in theaters Friday.
 
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