There’s an old Jimmy Stewart movie called Harvey, in which he plays a character who believes that a giant rabbit named Harvey is looming over him, even though no one else can see the rabbit.
Well, the shadow of another Harvey, Harvey Weinstein, is looming over our public life, and nothing from entertainment to politics, from sports to business, will ever be the same.
Society is hurtling with blinding speed toward a new paradigm when it comes to power relationships between men and women in the workplace.
Of course, we should have figured this one out a long time ago.
It’s been half a century, if you can believe it, since the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying first appeared.
That show featured a song called “A Secretary is Not a Toy.”
In Washington, Congress is running in terror because of a rumor that the Washington Post is about to release a bombshell article.
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The no longer socially acceptable term “secretary” notwithstanding, it seems that news that women are not playthings has finally reached the fevered precincts of Hollywood, Washington, D.C., and beyond.
In the last couple of weeks, we’ve seen a U.S. senator, various Congressmen, an NFL team owner, a Today Show host, a top federal court judge, a top comedian, and others admit to bad behavior and are rapidly departing from public life.
I’m thrilled.
Not all men abuse their power, but some have, and good riddance to them, because the rest of us don’t want to be tarred with the same brush.
Now, I understand that some people are concerned that this is turning into a witch hunt.
Or, to be more accurate from a gender perspective, a wizard hunt.
So far, that hasn’t been the case.
As far as I can tell, all of the men who have been shamed off the public stage faced multiple, credible accusers and actually admitted to some (but typically not all) of the misdeeds of which they were accused.
We haven’t seen any major “she said-he saids”-with the possible exception of Roy Moore, and a special good riddance to him.
In Washington, Congress is running in terror because of a rumor that the Washington Post is about to release a bombshell article.
The fact that a young woman willingly offered herself up to a man in a position of power, however, does not negate the wrongness of the powerful man’s actions.
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According to the rumor, the Post will defrock at least 20 Congressmen who have either been accused of sexually assaulting or harassing their female employees, or who paid taxpayer dollars to hush up those allegations and sweep them under the rug.
The party’s over, boys!
Sir Ian McKellen, the great actor, has raised the counterargument, that there are actresses who slept their way to the top and are now turning around and claiming victim status.
He points out that in the 1960s, in British theater, actresses would put on their headshots the initials “DRR,”which he says stood for “Director’s Rights Reserved.”
In other words, it was an open signal that they would have sex in exchange for being cast in the production.
The fact that a young woman willingly offered herself up to a man in a position of power, however, does not negate the wrongness of the powerful man’s actions.
These guys were just plain stupid to think they could get away with it forever.
I write these words as an employer, and also as a father of two girls.
Most workplaces, as far as I know, don’t tolerate the men at the top abusing their authority.
But clearly some do, and I have no problem with these bad boys walking the plank.
I’d like to believe that a woman can make it in the entertainment industry, or any industry, without being subjected to, or, for that matter, leaping on top of, the proverbial casting couch.
I know that’s an old tradition in Hollywood-hence the old line, “Who do I have to [expletive deleted] to get offered this picture?”
Nevertheless, my attitude is, score one for social media, for forcing a lot of men to clean up their act, or just plain forcing them out of public life.
There’s been a lot of talk about comparing today’s news stories with the ur-example of alleged sexual harassment, that of the testimony of Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill.
I think the more relevant example is that of Mike Tyson, the boxer, who was accused of inappropriate behavior with a young woman in an Indianapolis hotel room more than two decades ago.
Back then, in casual conversation, all the women sided with Tyson-their position was, “What did she expect, going to his hotel room?”
Meanwhile, all the men sided with the young woman, saying, “Just because she went to his hotel room doesn’t mean he has a right to assault her.”
Well, today, it seems as though a lot of workplaces are just one big hotel room, and a lot of men are learning, the hard way, that a secretary, an assistant, or anyone else on the payroll, is not a toy.
So wherever there are multiple, credible accusers and a man who admits even partial guilt, buh-bye, big fella.
A lot of people think the world is a better place.
Frankly, #MeToo.
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Photo: Getty Images