Stories are too common about
issues of inequality, and also
negative treatment or exclusion of
women across multiple industries.
The #metoo movement in the entertainment industry
is a big one, as high-profile people always have a curious
public peering into their lives. The media industry is
right there, too. Several top names in news were ousted
after years-long disrespectful behavior was revealed.
But the same things happen to the non-famous of
us, too.
It’s incredulous on one level. How could SO MANY
women have these things happen to them over decades
and nothing changed. Rhetorical question.
Sometimes, a joke or HR-questionable comment is
brushed off. We tolerate it. But then there’s a second
comment, and then more. If it’s coming from someone
who is a superior in the business structure, so many
dynamics at stake there.
And when these encounters happen when we are
young, it’s often not until we look back in our wiser
years that we have a greater perspective.
I’ve witnessed enough inappropriate workplace
behavior. Even as recent as the end of 2019.
I learned a lot after becoming one of only eight female
sports editors in the country in the late ‘90s. I was in
my early 20s, and garnering respect as a young woman
in what is considered a man’s field was eye-opening.
You think you know a lot more when you’re 24 than
Photo by
Christina Stuart
when you’re 44… so thankfully I moved through my
career with confidence and class.
But supervising a department of 15 men was no
cakewalk. The resentment festered like rotten garbage.
It culminated one evening when I received an internal
message about myself — a complaint about the boss
someone THOUGHT he sent to another man across
the aisle.
Resentment fuels dissatisfaction, but we strong women
can deal with that. But letting harassment persist is
inexcusable and can create deep-rooted emotional
issues.
I’m privy to an incident regarding a former female
colleague that still enrages me. Younger than myself
and a rising star in sports journalism, she was sexually
harassed by her boss. The company moved her to
another department, nothing happened to the male
supervisor, NDA signed.
How many times are we hearing this story lately?
As a mother to a young girl — in the entertainment
industry, no less — I am hyper aware and seek to remain
educated on issues of inequality, underrepresentation
and harassment. More protections are in place than ever
before, and we as a human race generally seem more
educated and aware.
But human trafficking is a prime example of the seedy
sexual undertones of our existence. If that is the extreme
end of the scale, a sexual joke or innuendo at the
workplace is the other end.
Women and minorities deserve a workplace with
respect. Let’s see how much more progress we can make
in this area. For our daughters’ sake.
- Lee Nessel
MAR. 2020 VOL. 18
EverythingBrevard.com
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