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Straight Talk




                                          WHO IS IT GOING TO BE TODAY?

                                                                    By Carol Heath

                                           HO WOULD HAVE         sive with certain men. These   20 years, this goes for Kevin
                                       Wthought that Harvey      men are in some position of   Spacey, Ben Affleck, Oliver
                                       Weinstein’s sexual philander-  power in various ways. They   Stone, Al Franken, Michael
                                       ing would have caused the   are either heads of compa-  Halperin, Charlie Rose, Matt
                                       apparent domino effect that   nies, high in the political food   Lauer, the list goes on and un-
                                       is permeating our airwaves?   chain, or celebrities of some   fortunately on including Andy
                                       Every new day brings a new   note. The list grows with each   Dick, appropriately named.
                                       allegation by someone in   passing day; you never know   You may say well there are
        Have Something to              power in our government, our   if it is going to be some guy   different degrees of being in-
                                                                                           appropriate and we shouldn’t
                                       news media, the entertain-
                                                                 in politics, or running for a
        Share?                         ment industry, large corpora-  political seat of some kind.   categorize these creeps all
                                       tions and the like.       Then there are the high-pro-  together. WRONG!
                                          There are several common   file entertainment directors,   A bully is a bully no matter
        Straight Talk is an            threads to these reported ac-  producers, actors, or sports   what degree of bulliness (I
        open forum for our             counts of sexual harassment.   figures. And, in what I consid-  made up the word) he exhib-
                                       However, before we explore
                                                                 er rather ludicrous, how about
                                                                                           its. These creeps are just that
        Writers & Readers              this subject any further, I   all the high-profile newsmen   bullies. They always pick on
                                                                                           someone that is either afraid
                                                                 that have been accused and
                                       would like to give you the
        to express their               accepted definition of sexual   been unceremoniously fired   of losing their job, or not
                                       harassment according to the
        opinions. We will              Equal Employment Opportu-
        print these opinion            nity Commission:
                                          “It is unlawful to harass
        pieces with or                 a person (an applicant or
                                       employee) because of that
        without your byline            person’s sex. Harassment can
                                       include “sexual harassment” or
        per your request.              unwelcome sexual advances,
                                       requests for sexual favors, and
        We look forward to             other verbal or physical ha-
        hearing from you.              rassment of a sexual nature.”
                                           The definition goes on
                                       to include "either by men
                                       or women," funny thing is I   from their jobs. You know, the   getting a job; someone that
                                       personally have not heard   guys that have been reporting   has something to lose, like
                                       anything about a woman    these stories.            their reputation; you get the
                                       being accused in this foray of   The sad thing is this kind   message. It shouldn’t matter if
                                       sexual harassment charges.  of behavior has been going   you are in a position of power
                                          As previously stated there   on for years, and the powers   and are making big bucks for
                                       seem to be several common   that be have known about   the people that are protecting
                                       threads to all these alleged   it, but have chosen not to   you, or that ‘uncle’ we knew
                                       charges. First, they seem to   do anything about it. Why?   as a kid.
                                       be men. Second, these men   Like so many other things in   Ah, I now have your full
                                       seem to have some kind of   this world, the bottom line is   attention. I challenge you to
                                       power. Third, these men have   money, M-O-N-E-Y. Bottom   find a woman, any woman,
                                       been getting away with this   line, these creeps, yes that is   that has not been sexually ha-
                                       kind of behavior for some   what I said, creeps, have been   rassed at some point in their
                                       time. Fourth, these men gen-  getting away with so many   lives. And, yes that goes back
                                       erally deny the initial charges.   things. Sexual inappropriate   to when you were a child and
                                       Fourth, it seems that these   behavior is just one example   that special friend of the fam-
                                       men had reputations of being   of when you are in power, any   ily may have touched you in
                                       inappropriate. Fifth, appar-  kind of power; you can act like   your special place. What I am
                                       ently these men have been   a creep with absolutely no   saying people is that this type
       The opinions expressed within   protected for years. I could go   consequences whatsoever.  of behavior no matter where
       Straight Talk are not necessarily   on, but I assume by now you   I can already sense the   it comes from, is not okay, no
       the opinions of San Diego Woman   are beginning to realize that   naysayers; you think I'm   matter how minor. It is time
       Magazine.                       this type of behavior is not   exaggerating. Consider this, if   for women to stand up and
                                       new or limited to a very few.  you will, Weinstein's accusers   like a famous movie character,
                                          On the contrary, it seems   are now in the high double   say "I am mad as hell, and I am
        22                             this type of behavior is perva-  digits and date back as far as   not going to take it anymore!"
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