Why doesn’t someone just do the math, or complete the recipe? Why do liberals — we know conservative women and SCAMs do what they do of protecting their patriarchy — not change the laws (it’s easy for the Gwyneth Patlrows and Frances McDormand’s to now step out and support cultural change (i.e. metoo#). That said, it’s turning into a false consciousness campaign. Unless they change some of the laws (local, state, federal, our expectations of eradicating harassment are not commensurate with real long lasting change. (Watch Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Fatwa).
What is more, the Democrats are looking for an issue. Income inequality is a biggie. Harassment is a biggie. So get in the kitchen and start stirring. The fact that we have Minnesotans like Senator Al Franken to contend with in terms of paying off, shaming, or threatening women into submission of different forms just makes the issue all the more politically delicious. A bipartisan issue is a rarity, in other words. Look, even Trump is deciding it’s such an issue he has to “alt” his reality to face up to his Bush trailer brag session found on tape.
Here’s the recipe:
Four ingredients —
Obama’s EEOC change in rules that would require employers of over 100 workers to list gender/race/ethnicity according to rank or job title.
One part combined with public unions being gutted. The AFL-CIO may be the largest group for women and women of color and different ethnicities, but their record of propagating discrimination is historically and currently outrageously awful.
Then, combine with non-disclosure agreements and any form of voluntary (ha) enforced arbitration or yellow-dog contracts — and violà, you have a multi-layered cake with a multitude of overlapping constituencies at the state and federal levels.
Start shaming corporations, CEOs, whoever follows the new yellow-dog contracts or shaming women out of the workplace with their harassment. Any company, corporation, or mom-and-pop place that does not publicly fire a harasser should themselves be outed, no?
I know too many small entrepreneurs and large public and private non-profit institutions who play this game of pass-along-the-harasser (who have daughters too, and granddaughters), particularly in Silicon Valley or shall we say California. And besides, I’m still trying to figure out what happened to Governor Jerry Brown vetoing salary disclosure information by gender.
Ruth Frick O'Brien 