Bad hobbies: No sacred cows as sex scandal purge marches on

[C C]

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/11/...erose.html

EXCERPT: Television shows hosted by Charlie Rose were suspended by CBS, PBS and Bloomberg on Monday following a report by the Washington Post in which eight women said he sexually harassed them.

PBS and Bloomberg said in statements that they were suspending Rose's signature interview show, distributed on both outlets, citing the allegations in the newspaper story.

CBS News said it was suspending Rose immediately while it looks into the matter.

"These allegations are extremely disturbing and we take them very seriously," CBS News said in a statement....

https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/11/...erose.html

[Magical Realist]

"I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken," he added.

Oh come on Charlie. You the master interviewer with years of experience keying into every microexpression and vocal inflection of your guests? I highly doubt it. You wanted it to be true so bad that your judgement was compromised. Maybe's she's just shy and needs some encouragement. A hand on her ass here, and a grope of her breast there. Late night lewd phonecalls and shocking displays of nudity. And it happened over and over again over the decades. No Charlie. Like so many of these other men you were using your power and fame over these women. You were preying on them systematically and intentionally. And now you must go too.

[Magical Realist]

Geez....is everybody a sexual predator?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle...0a2fd6529d

[C C]

Geez....is everybody a sexual predator?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle...0a2fd6529d

Yep, even Garrison Keillor has been fired -- no more Lake Wobegon tales on NPR.  If this social-media facilitated movement originally ignited as a means to purge Fox News, talk-radio, abusive Uber-like industries, and pro-Trump elements wherever found... Then it is backfiring as decades long icons and coastal socio-political allies are falling like flies across the spectrum.

In the UK there's far less of this happening purely because the libel and litigation laws are different for journalism venues there. But the rest of the non-Anglophone world is reacting to the deluge of scandal-related firings as if America has gone nuts. Many women (as well as potential male victims) in places like Russia are still in old school mode. They haven't attained a cognitive template yet for apprehending and judging some of these acts in more serious context, even when they have experienced such themselves.  

As the U.S. reels from sexual harassment scandals, Russia asks: What's the big deal?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-sexu...-1.4418275

EXCERPT: Many Russians are having a good chuckle these days at the state of Western society as the long list of sexual violence and harassment claims against prominent American men grows by the day. The notion that there's something shamefully wrong, misogynistic or potentially criminal about a man exerting his wealth or power over women has struck many Russians as a big "so what." And in many cases, those gaffawing the loudest are Russian women....

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[Zinjanthropos]

But Victoria's Secret fashion show hits boob tube screens (or is that flat screen?). With all the accusations in the entertainment industry these days you'd think that would've been removed from broadcast, it's a Peeping Tom's view of heaven.   On one hand we have women coming forward and on the other we have women doing their job but unfortunately it's exactly what gets the gropers, pinchers and fondlers excited. I think those men treat it as if it's permission to molest. Believe me when I say those Hollywood asshats are getting what they deserve and I'm not against women parading around in their underwear. Still someone may call me something derogatory that I didn't anticipate . Hard not knowing exactly what one can say about this subject.

[C C]

Thank goodness Fred Rogers is too dead to get into trouble. That would really be a disillusionment crisis for all the people who grew up watching him as kids.

Mister Rodger's Neighborhood
http://pbskids.org/rogers/videos/index.html

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[Zinjanthropos]

CC: that vid restricted to USA. Too bad, I'll always wonder what's on it.  

Two scenarios;

When I was a younger version of myself I remember An interview I had for a job. The interview was conducted by a female HR person. During the interview she would place a document in front of me and while I read it she would nuzzle up real close to me as she sat in a chair beside me. Older woman but nice looking. It seems as if my upper arm (elbow to shoulder), the one closest to her was permanently trapped between her ample bosom as she leaned toward me. I was afraid to move my arm and after a while I was starting to think this was a test. Thinking more harm than good could come out of this if I did move I decided to keep my arm still. What was I supposed to think? I'm pretty sure that's how these Hollywood casting couch gals were feeling. Did I get hired? In a few days I was asked to start but by then I had been hired elsewhere.

I'm sitting at a table in a dining establishment with my buddy, his gf and another girl. I just happened by uninvited. Wasn't long before I feel a foot making it's way up my pant leg from beneath the table. Naturally I have to scan the eyes of my company to get some idea of who is doing this. I figured it out with one furtive glance. As evening progress the other girl moves in, closer and closer, until eventually the foot is replaced by a hand in my groin area, her's. 

Are one or both of these occurrences sexual assault? Is there a difference between them? How many of these touchings go unreported?

[Yazata]

If this social-media facilitated movement originally ignited as a means to purge Fox News, talk-radio, abusive Uber-like industries, and pro-Trump elements wherever found...

I think that it's been around longer than that. It's a staple of feminism. But sure, some of the more left-leaning women once at Fox (Gretchen Carlson and co.) saw it as an opportunity to take down guys like Roger Ailes, who they hoped Rupert Murdoch's more left-leaning sons would replace with a more "progressive" figure that would reshape the network to conform with the rest of the mainstream media. (So Gretchen and Megan would feel more welcome at NY media industry parties.) Fox avoided a very public lawsuit that might have damaged the network (imagine the chortling at MSNBC and CNN) by letting Gretchen walk away with a tax-free $20 million settlement. (Set for life... can anyone say "shakedown".)

But then it happened to Harvey Weinstein, who I'd never heard of but apparently was a very big deal on the business side behind the scenes in Hollywood. (He had the power to make or break careers, so there were probably lots of resentments and grudges.) And after that it turned into a bit of a stylish fad I guess. Now everyone is doing it. (Like "transgender" became a stylish new cause after Bruce Jenner started taking female hormones.) That's how these things work where herd-instinct is strong.

Then it is backfiring as decades long icons and coastal socio-political allies are falling like flies across the spectrum.

Feminists are the ones most likely to try this, and feminists are much thicker on the ground in the Northeast and California than they are in Oklahoma.

So this whole passive-aggressive strategy of exerting power and getting whatever you want by making sexual allegations and playing victim is basically a strategy that's only going to resonate on the coasts, sociologically speaking. Trump voters aren't going to be moved nearly as much, although they probably do enjoy watching the trendy coastal elites eating their own and spitting out bones. Oops, there goes Al Franken, Matt Lauer and John Conyers.

[Magical Realist]

The question isn't why are all these women only taking offense now to these things that happened years ago. The question is how did it ever become okay for your own boss to pull his penis out or grab your ass and french kiss you or send you obscene text msgs and pics? Why was it ever ok to just silently put up with this shit instead of coming forward about it and exposing these men as the douchebags they are? Because that's part of being a woman in a man's world? Because they were able to keep their jobs and even get a promotion by letting this patently juvenile behavior to continue unchecked with woman after woman? Wrong. There was never a good reason for this sort of behavior. And now we're seeing a major seachange in our cultural consciousness about how women are to be treated and respected in the workplace. It is a wake up call that transcends politics and political correctness and social media fads, and I for one am glad to see it. History is a nightmare we are trying to wake up from, even if it means saying goodbye to some of our most revered social icons. Bill Cosby serial date rapist? Are you kidding me? I'm STILL trying to process that one.

[Syne]

Feminist equality demanded that women act like men. So if a man wouldn't report sexual harassment, I guess they reasoned that an equal woman shouldn't either. After all, that would be admitting to differences between the sexes, especially that women could be more sensitive or vulnerable. But they've went from demanding women be like men, just as promiscuous and crude, to men being like women, just as well-behaved.

Now we are back to men treating women as women and women expecting it. It's like society as a whole is maturing and becoming more sexually conservative again.