Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 31 January 2018
#MeToo movement starting to show generational divides

By DAVID CRARY and TA- ways wanted my way out
MARA LUSH in case I want to leave.”
Associated Press A few seats away, Kelsey
Where there has been soli- Stephenson, 28, discussed
darity and safety in num- the differences she sees
bers in the #MeToo move- in how older and younger
ment, there is now also women view the #MeToo
an increasingly apparent movement.
generational divide. And Older women look at the
it’s not just among women. some of the troublesome
Compared to their elders, incidents and assume,
younger women are seen “that’s the way men are,
as generally more willing to and we had to deal with
speak out about being sex- that,” Stephenson said.
ually harassed, and bring a “Younger women have
new set of expectations to the vocabulary and tools
their sexual relationships. to describe it... These are
There are also generation- conversations that are un-
al differences in approach comfortable but are im-
to dating relationships, and portant to get to a better
in expectations that, if spo- place in society.”
ken, their concerns about Millennial women “think
sexual misconduct would In this Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018 file photo, demonstrators hold signs during a Women’s March in that men should be more
Austin, Texas, on the anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
be received without reper- Associated Press in tune with the way a
cussion. woman says things,” said
Baby Boomer women Nicole Slaughter, 31, a
“took it for granted they Generational differenc- count by a woman identi- tional Marriage Project at freelance journalist. “The
wouldn’t be heard” by es surfaced in two highly fied as “Grace” of a sexual the University of Virginia. culture has changed so
men, especially in sexual sit- publicized offshoots of the encounter with comedian “There’s a public embrace much, so quickly. We’re still
uations, said Amy Lynch, a #MeToo movement earlier Aziz Ansari that left her of more egalitarian, femi- feeling out where the line
Nashville-based consultant this month. feeling disrespected and nist sensibilities and ideas,” should be drawn on these
who helps employers navi- In France, there was a abused. Among older he said, but that often kinds of behaviors.”
gate generational rela- notable backlash — led women, there were sug- doesn’t carry over to their A former president of the
tionships in the workplace. by younger women — in gestions that Grace should private approach to sexual National Organization for
Millennial women — those response to an open let- have been more vocal encounters. Women, Kim Gandy, is
in their 20s and 30s — are ter signed by 74-year-old and assertive in dealing As for millennial women, heartened by the increas-
more likely to have grown movie star Catherine De- with what amounted to a Wilcox said, “there’s a ten- ing willingness of younger
up in environment support- neuve and dozens of other bad date. sion between what they’re women to speak up about
ive of gender equality, with women about men be- Among younger women, expecting in terms of men workplace harassment.
the expectation — not al- being more egalitarian, She recalled working for
ways fulfilled — that they’ll and then finding in private a telephone company
be attentively listened to in that things don’t match in Louisiana in the 1970s
those circumstances. their expectations.” where a district manager
“I have sometimes joked At a crowded coffee shop remained on the job long
that my generation is femi- in St. Petersburg, Florida, after word spread among
nism’s Frankensteins,” said Lauren Caplinger, 20, said female employees about
Courtney Martin, 38, an this moment in gender re- his predatory behavior.
author and blogger. “Our lations is an “overwhelm- “There was an expectation
mothers raised us to be- ing” and “ambiguous” of rotten behavior being
lieve we deserved sexual time for both sexes. something that went with
equality, but now that “The set rules and lines, the territory,” Gandy said.
we’re actually demanding things that we thought “Today there would have
it, it can seem overly en- were rules, are kind of dis- been a much quicker re-
titled or sensitive to them.” sipating, and everything is sponse.” Yet Gandy is cau-
Debra Katz, a Washington becoming blurry,” said Ca- tious about predicting a
lawyer specializing in cases plinger, a public relations generational sea change.
of sexual harassment and major at the University of She’s now CEO of the Na-
sex discrimination, says Lauren Caplinger, 20, sits in a coffee shop while she uses South Florida. tional Network to End Do-
a computer to do her homework in St. Petersburg, Fla., on
younger women make up Monday, Jan. 22, 2018. On one hand, she felt mestic Violence, and says
the bulk of clients bringing Associated Press comfortable enough to go the age group of 18-to-24-
complaints to her firm. up to a guy at a club and year-olds has one of the
“Women historically felt ing unfairly targeted by there was blame for Ansari offer to buy him a drink highest levels of dating vio-
they would immediately sexual misconduct allega- and suggestions he had — something her mother lence and domestic vio-
lose their job if they came tions. Among those assail- pressured Grace without chided her for — and on lence. Jeremy Fischbach,
forward with sexual harass- ing Deneuve were feminist heeding her words and the other, is curious about 39, a New Orleans-based
ment complaints,” Katz Caroline De Haas, 37, and body language. some of the dating rituals entrepreneur who has
said. “Among the younger France’s gender equality Among millennial men of old that she’s heard her written about “redefining
generation, people are minister, 35-year-old Mar- such as Ansari — who is 34 mother and grandmother masculinity,” says he’d like
not suffering in silence... lene Schiappa. — there’s a cultural contra- talk about. to be hopeful about the
The advice they’re getting In the U.S., some perceived diction at play, according “I haven’t been picked future of gender relations,
now is to come forward a generational gap in re- to sociologist W. Bradford up for a date in like, pfft, but sees a worrisome void
and report it.” action to the detailed ac- Wilcox, director of the Na- ever,” she said. “I’ve al- on the male side.q