Men in positions of power need to overcome their fears, Hugo Schwyzer writes, and start making themselves available to members of the opposite sex.
I received two similar emails last week asking the same question: why don’t more men in positions of authority mentor women?
The first came from a college student, Jackie. She wrote:
At the college I attend I have noticed that most male instructors are mentors to males. However, I noticed most of them do not engage in such activities with female students. A fellow student of mine has lunch with one of his professors every now and then, this has given the him a great advantage. I have yet to see this type of relationship with a female student and a male professor. My take on it is that this is because if a male professor was seen at lunch with a female student it would be looked upon as inappropriate. A female friend of mine and I were discussing this and we agreed we are uncomfortable with asking a male professor for his mentorship for fear of him taking it inappropriately.
The second came from Claire, a PR professional in her early 30s:
I work directly under the senior vice-president of our company. He’s a brilliant man, and he’s done so many iconic things in our industry. He’s married and has scrupulous boundaries with women. Maybe too scrupulous, as he regularly takes a couple of my male peers to lunch alone, but only brings me along when I’m part of a larger group. These guys benefit from the VP’s one-on-one attention, but because of his apparent anxiety about being alone with me, I only get a fraction of the time with him that my male colleagues do. I worry that it will be taken as a sexual advance if I ask to get that same treatment the “boys” get.
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I wrote last month that men should do all they could to avoid becoming part of the “old boy networks” that are still so pervasive in both business and academia. In the old boy networks, senior men mentor guys whom they see as protégés; women are excluded due to rank sexism. But as both Claire and Jackie make clear, the reluctance of many men to mentor young women has less to do with a belief in female inferiority and more to do with fear of sexual impropriety.
Sexual harassment is, of course, a real and still-virulent problem in universities and corporate settings alike. There are still plenty of professors and bosses who foist unwelcome attention on their female students and employees. But too many men in positions of authority, keenly aware of the reality of harassment, have moved to the opposite extreme. The only way to ensure that they aren’t perceived as harassers is to refuse to be alone with a female employee or student, and to avoid providing the close, one-on-one mentoring that is so often a vital component of the younger person’s success.
Some of these men are motivated by a fear of being falsely accused of sexual harassment. Others are simply uncertain of how to mentor a woman, imagining that it must be so different than working with a man that it’s easier not to try in the first place. And some are married or otherwise committed men who worry about office or campus gossip—or about their partners’ sexual jealousy. The end result, unfortunately, is always the same: women aren’t mentored as frequently as their male peers.
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Businesses of course, are famously risk-averse; colleges and universities only slightly less so. Corporate counsels worry more about sexual harassment lawsuits than they do about the far rarer suits over a failure to provide fair and equal mentoring. They likely figure that encouraging a still largely male professoriate and an overwhelmingly male CEO class to mentor younger women might open the company or school to a flood of litigation. But just as unwanted sexual advances can create a hostile working environment for women, so too can an environment in which men’s fear leads them to exclude female subordinates from the ranks of potential mentees.
The burden for changing this dynamic can’t fall onto female students or junior employees. With greater authority comes greater responsibility, after all; it’s the job of male professors and supervisors to push past their own discomfort in order to make sure that they are equally open to mentoring women and men. This means getting very clear on what constitutes harassment—and what doesn’t. It means being willing to stand up to the kind of tedious and predictable gossip that nearly invariably follows when a man begins to mentor a woman.
The responsibility for changing this dynamic can’t fall on individual men alone. Rather, institutions and corporations need to be assiduous about encouraging fearless mentoring as most of them are about preventing sexual harassment. Countless companies and colleges offer voluntary (or, increasingly, mandatory) sexual harassment prevention training to their employees. The goal of these trainings is to prevent lawsuits, and most focus on long lists of what not to do. It would be helpful if part of the time devoted to sexual harassment prevention could be given over to teaching techniques for effective cross-sex mentoring.
But this problem will not be resolved until we accept the simple truth that men and women can be friends. Too many of us are invested in the myth that unilateral or mutual sexual attraction makes platonic relationships impossible. As long as we insist that lust makes friendship impossible, we’ll continue to be deeply mistrustful of any man who claims he’s “only” mentoring a female student or subordinate. That mistrust, left unchallenged, will remain one of the most impenetrable components of the infamous glass ceiling that blocks women from achieving full equality with men in every aspect of public life.
It’s important to mentor younger people. But we do best with mentors of both sexes in our lives; we all need to see that success has no gender. For men in positions of authority, the challenge is to move past their fears and to make themselves generously and equally available as mentors to both men and women. For the rest of us, the challenge is to accept that these relationships are both possible and necessary.
—Photo Alex E. Proimos/Flickr
If you ask a female co-worker to lunch…. feminists view it as sexual assault if you don’t ask a female co-worker to lunch… feminists view it as sexist anti-women old boys club BS No win situation, women will complain no matter what you do. I would never hire a female because of the liability risk when they can get jaded for whatever reason and then claim having a discussion over lunch was sexual harassment. Just as a black man had to be extra careful and always made sure to avoid eye contact with whites in the past, I always avoid… Read more »
He’ll no. I’ve seen too many good men brought down for doing nothing wrong. I am never alone with any female Co workers. It is a minefield out there.
The mistrust is based on sexual harassment lawsuits, a perfectly genuine concern. When they go down, more women will have access to their male superiors. Its a perfect example of a privilege given to one gender at the expense of the other being reflected back as opression.
If you, a man, choose to mentor a woman professionally, make sure you always have a witness in the room or record all conversations. It is basic self defence.
Being mentored is not a right, those who are excluded are just not good enough. As usual, it is easier to blame the rank sexism than try and work harder.
Men are in a double bind. The reality is that if a man mentors a woman there is a risk that he will be subject to rumors and innuendo’s or be falsely accused of sexual harassment or favoritism. That risk comes from many sources 1) the woman herself if things do not work out 2) other women who feel slighted or anyone else who feels he is engaging in favoritism. The reality is anyone can file a sexual harassment suit if they feel they are being treated unfairly based on gender, i.e. not getting promoted someone else being favored, not… Read more »
I’d add to this that other men often contribute to the idea that a woman only got something because she was a woman.
And sometimes it is really true and it is called “Diversity”, right?
There seems to be a mix-up as to when and how the term Mentor is Applied. There is a focus on it’s use within the workplace, and it’s link to In House and On the Job Training. That actually makes it a Business Training Issue and even a simple supervision issue, not a Mentor – Mentee issue. “mentoring programs” are not as it were an in house training issue – it is the matching of two people on a voluntary basis where there is a common interest and the more experienced person shares that experience with the less experienced. It… Read more »
Pillowinhell. You seem–seems the most likely interpretation–to think that a man’s refusing to mentor a woman due to fears of sexual harassment accusations is a kind of punishment of all women because of the actions of some, and that that would be wrong. You then liken it to two actions women are sometimes counseled to consider as prudent. These are not punishing all men, or any men. They are prudent. So I don’t see the analogy. It would be more prudent to avoid mentoring women, although statistically the chances are that no accusations would occur. Still, it would be prudent.… Read more »
I’m not a professional in an environment where these issues come up but… You know..this whole conversation smacks of the same paranoia as ones between women on schroedingers rapist. Does it behoove men to be aware that by taking on a woman to mentor, he opens himself up to gossip and false accusations? Hell yes, and I think many people would respect that. There’s nothing wrong with being a bit cautious and assessing the situation, regardless of what danger you feel you may be approaching. However, its not likely that the woman in questions is a complete unknown. Surely there’s… Read more »
There’s a difference between a man who does not go out of his way to mentor female candidates or is more choosy with them than a man who refuses to mentor women because they “make false accusations.” Hugo is suggesting men should make a point of mentoring women and just suck it up if they have concerns. I’m saying a lot of those concerns are pretty serious and that it’s not reasonable to rank protecting your own career and relationships above some ephemeral notion of gender justice. I’m not saying lying is what people should do; I’m saying it’s what… Read more »
Pillowinhell, you are so right on with your analysis of the sexism of men not mentoring women for fear of sexual harassment charges. Your your recognition that anyone with enough experience to be in line for mentoring is surely somewhat known to the potential mentor was my thought as well. I particularly appreciated this statement: “There’s nothing wrong with being a bit cautious and assessing the situation, regardless of what danger you feel you may be approaching.” What I don’t understand, however, is that the logic of that statement is exactly what the Schroedinger’s Cat piece is meant to explain:… Read more »
Hugo tried the same thing in his own blog some time back. Same deal. The Bad Menz. Of course. Same responses: The deck is stacked to the extent that men risk far too much if they try mentoring women.
When sexual harassment is defined as whatever the woman claimes to have felt was going on rather than a reasonable person rubric, there really is no way to avoid it.
Hugo — All of the men here have already said that it’s ridiculous simply to demand that men take the risk of losing their jobs/prestige, just to make sure that women are mentored. As you can see, there are women like Leia who are only too happy to blame men in general for the fact that some real assholes “mentored” her. Which, by the way, is part of the problem — men have to consider what it looks like to the woman when they offer to mentor a woman. Plenty of women will be suspicious of a man’s intentions toward… Read more »
The real fear/possibility of being accused of sexual misconduct is not something to put aside lightly. It’s very easy to ask men in authority to accept that risk and ignore the rumors, but it’s those men who have the most to lose. Yes, there is an old boy network in many places, but there are also many places where accusations of sexual harassment are assumed to be true until proven otherwise. Even if the incident was an innocent misunderstanding, the male mentor is held to be much more responsible than the female protégé, and after such a misunderstanding the institution… Read more »
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Eh, Hugo?
The feminists created a work environment in which men have good cause to limit their interactions with their female co-workers. Any man accused is usually simply terminated in order for the company to avoid potential litigation. As a result of such a hostile work environment for men, the intelligent male managers have decided to protect themselves by giving their female coworkers a wide berth.
The feminists created this situation, and now they’re complaining about the predictable consequences of their actions. Let them eat cake, I say.
“The feminists created this situation”
Right – It’s time for action.
If These Feminists want mentoring I’m happy to set aside the time for 6 over the next 12 months! I’m on a sabbatical, so I do have the time!
How many shall I put you down for? P^)
Any particular target group of interest? Politicians – CEOs – or will you just take whoever asks?
It’s amazing that in spite of the crisis facing our young men and women getting 50% more degrees than males we still see men peddling the misleading perspective that women are at a disadvantage in the work place. Childless women earn on average 117% more than men. The main thing keeping women back are life choices not discrimination. Men think they are being good by focusing on women but they are really being heartless jerks by ignoring the plight of their fellow man. Look at the challenges men face today and the long list of men who end up going… Read more »
Why isn’t it acknowledged here that most potential mentors are women, as they are the majority of managers?
Were this piece balanced and not just another verse in the never ending “men aren’t doing” song, it would be gender neutral.
Were this piece balanced and not just another verse in the never ending “men aren’t doing enough” song, it would be gender neutral.
“But just as unwanted sexual advances can create a hostile working environment for women, so too can an environment in which men’s fear leads them to exclude female subordinates from the ranks of potential mentees.”
So, failing to mentor also creates a hostile work environment that can form the basis of a lawsuit? Damned if you do, damned if you don’t!
-Jut
I swear, that was the first phrase that popped into my head on reading this.
So, men are blamed if they try to interact with women in the workplace, and they’re blamed if they DON’T interact with women in the workplace. Since we’re going to get blamed either way, why don’t we just skip trying to make the office feminists happy altogether?
The definition of “sexual harassment” is very broad, so a list of what not to do in the company of a woman is worthless.
If a woman’s word can jeopardize a man’s career and ruin his life then yes, you will have men who’ll limit their interactions with them.
This fear is real and should be taken seriously.
Until accusations carry less weight nothing will change.
NIkkiB: The comments don’t indicate that “women are going to always make false accusations”, but rather what happens when they do. Even if the accusations are true, that does not mean that a man should be fired before an investigation is done. I fully realize that women have been fired, denied promotion etc etc for making a fully true accusation and that is 100% wrong. What men want is for an accusation to be investigated before action is taken.
” It means being willing to stand up to the kind of tedious and predictable gossip that nearly invariably follows when a man begins to mentor a woman.” it seems like he’s saying that the reason that men hold back from mentoring is *fear of gossip”.
This is the feminist brand of patriarchy, patriarchy and chivalry on steroids – a man is a coward/not a real man/not a good man, if he is not prepared to risk throwing his life away for a woman.
There is culture emerging – smart men avoid being alone with women in the work place, let them ride in the lift alone, never be in a shut office alone with one.
Exactly, Ron. Feminists wanted any and all female accusations of impropriety to be believed without question, and as a result the smart men have ceased all interaction with them.
This article attempts to place the blame for the situation on the men who are reacting intelligently to a hostile work environment… but until the environment changes (courtesy of the ones who CREATED it), such complaints are empty and meaningless.
“….as a result the smart men have ceased all interaction with them.”
Does that mean I have to reclassify myself as Dumb Man?
Where I come from, it’s Dumb Men who are bad at management who cease all interaction with “them”! P^)
So glad that you have adopted the third person accusative plural personal pronoun to maintain gender neutrality! P^)
It’s hard work – but as you have proved – it is possible!
I work in a very large corporation and the basic fact is sexual harassment claims are rare and most men do not avoid women. Its impossible because half the employees are female. There are relationships between people at work. Its quite common.
MRAs would like to believe that men are collectively punished women somehow for sexual harassment claims but that is total bullshit. Its completely impractical and impossible. The culture adapts to the circumstances.
Assman
I wasn’t talking about the average workers, I was talking about people in power and people being cautions. Like the taxi drivers in UK that won’t pick up women alone at night anymore, for fear of the threat of a FA, it doesn’t go for all men, or all taxi drivers, but the caution is there for some.
If a taxi driver in the UK refuses to take a fare on grounds of gender he is in breach of UK licensing laws and, as he has to hold a statuary license, he is also in breach of the Human Rights Act 1998 – and The Equality Act of 2010. Just mention Section 13 – Direct discrimination. There is no excuse in sight of The Law. Should anyone hold evidence of such conduct you should bring it to the attention of “The Equalities And Human Rights Commission” http://www.equalityhumanrights.com – and of course you should also advise the victim to… Read more »
*sigh*. My advisor is a man with several women in his lab. He hasn’t only had women, but we seem to outnumber the men. Yes, there are wink-wink nudge-nudge comments that I personally hate – because he is an excellent mentor. He accepts only like-minded and ambitious students, gender is not an issue. And yet. He still has to deal with that shit – but does that make him say “oh, no, sorry. Not gonna take you cuz people get the wrong idea”? Hell to the F no. Hugo, I completely agree with you. Yes, there is some sexism at… Read more »
@NikkiB: your soluation (and I presume Hugos as well) is for men to ignore reality, and go full steam ahead. Pretty easy to say , much harder to do, especially if you have seen a friend dragged thru the mud and fired for doing exactly what someone is currently asking you to do. It isn’t right that men HAVE to feel this way and imho, they do HAVE to feel this way. Society and business have adopted a no tolerance policy for sexual harassment and while on the surface it seems good. Unfortunately this policy shift is causing men to… Read more »
Nikki – “Are men not capable of mentoring women as people? Are women not capable of engaging in this relationship without falsely accusing men of doing something inappropriate? Sure, we can sit around and say “that’s a risk” and it might very well be – but how else do we change anything? ” Remove the polarization! Remove Gender! Mentor role and mentee role are actually not gender specific. Discussing matters as only within that dynamic is rather old hat and tends to perpetuate and even strengthen myths and stereotypes. If there is Bias address it! Just have a look at… Read more »
I have been harassed by 3 mentors : (1) HS: Chemistry teacher, (2) HS internship at a hospital: Mentor/Supervisor, and (3) College: Pre-professional Advisor…..Can’t trust men to be alone with women…
“…..Can’t trust men to be alone with women…”.
I’m sorry for your experience – but that does not mean All Men should be viewed the same way, or portrayed as such.
Did you activate the relevant Institutional Polices, Practices and Procedures to have the Harassment addressed? I would hope so!
As a Mentor I would be remiss in not encouraging you to meet those challenges and protect others. A mentor can only guide – not enforce. Action is always the individuals responsibility.
In my opinion this is happening for the same reason so many men aren’t volunteering to work with kids. After all, a number of airlines don’t allow men to sit next to unrelated children on their aircraft, some airlines have official policies against this and other use their online booking services to do it. How you ask. Last summer I booked a flight home to see my parents , as I was making my booking I was choosing my sets and there were 9 empty spots to choose from. As a test I wrote down the empty seat numbers and… Read more »
wife = wild
John – you ask about messages being given to others. “I would also ask; “What message do you think this sends to CHILDREN, what message do you think CHILDREN get from the wild array of sexual Stereotypes where men are seen as Guilty and Dangerous and Subject to segregation before any investigation?” If that automated segregation by computer system was on grounds of race, sexuality, religion, disability and any other form of status it would be seen as Un-American and Un-Acceptable. What you report may also have implications under FAA regulations. It also assumes that all women like kids –… Read more »
I think the piece would benefit from some balance. The Pronouns are flying and “WE” men are being told yet again get out the Mea Culpas and weep. So where are the comments – real world observations on the subject – even advice on how to do it right from a Male? – and saying “do it right” in no way implies that any male is doing it wrong! I noted a vogue some years ago of Women Mentoring Women – and with that there was all sorts of implied sexism, and any male who even raised an eyebrow. I… Read more »
Hugo, good article. I’m sure that concern about sexual harassment or “how it will look” are factors in why a man might not mentor a woman. But there are a lot of other potential reasons that have nothing to do with sexual tension of any sort. When I was not mentored by a male supervisor there was nothing sexual in the reasons. They were the following: 1. He mentored my male lateral colleagues but not me because, in his words, he “didn’t know I wanted to be mentored.” His bad. 2. I did not ask to be mentored. My bad.… Read more »
“1. He mentored my male lateral colleagues but not me because, in his words, he “didn’t know I wanted to be mentored.” His bad.”
– How is that his fault if you didn’t tell him?
BOTH of us made assumptions, and you know what they say about people who assume. Supervisors have obligations to mentor, and to do it in a gender-fair way, just as workers need to assert that they want to be mentored. I talked with some of my male colleagues who WERE mentored. Half of them never asked for it in any way–it was just given to them automatically. I do believe the blame is to be shared equally in my situation. If you do not see a sexist presumption in my supervisor not even imagining I’d want to be mentored, think… Read more »
“He even commented to me things about me being a mother, having a lot of responsibility at home, not realizing I could want more responsibility, etc. Do you seriously not see a problem with that?”
You answered your own question. You might have sued him and the company for that comment for creating a hostile work environment. You see a “problem” with him expressing his thoughts and concerns honestly. Who would want to sign up for such risks?
-Jut
Sued him?? Is that the default position? Not for me!! Despite how I felt about the lack of mentoring, I was and still am very close to him. Why such presumptions?? Unbalanced, vindictive, litigious women might sue in this situation, but give me a break–that is not how the majority of women are, and if you think otherwise, I feel sorry for you. Out here in the real world are lots and lots of women who roll with things and keep going. There was no problem with my supervisor expressing these things *to me* because we had a good relationship.… Read more »
“Out here in the real world are lots and lots of women who roll with things and keep going.” But you never know who those people are. And, yes, he has biases. Live and let live, as you say. So, tell him, “thanks for your concern, I appreciate it, but would you consider mentoring me.” Don’t dwell on his biases. You are going to have to live and let live, if you want someone to take a personal interest in you. And, if they do take an interest in your personal growth, don’t get all “disappointed” if they show a… Read more »
“Jeez, we need to live and let live and move on here. This kind of obstructionist thinking is not helping anyone.” I agree – but unfortunately other’s don’t. I’m reminded of a memo that was sent to all senior staff in an organization. It reminded all staff that inappropriate male conduct and any form of harassment ( defined by the person claiming to be harassed as is recognized best practice ) would fall foul of disciplinary procedures and could and even would result in termination. The memo then went on to recommend recording details of all interactions – even assessing… Read more »
Here is a thought do not “tell him” show him. Actions speak louder than words…..use the suggestions above. Take on more work in an area outside your own, add value to items that are of value to your boss. Make the mission priorities your priorities. Saying you want to be mentored in words alone won’t do it – showing it will. If you act like you want to be mentored and are eager to learn and grow the business that will send a message louder than words – talk is cheap.
Did all that and then some. Signing off now.
Lori,
See my criteria above. His assumption was not unreasonable in my opinion. Managers aren’t mind readers. To me, a a person who wants more is willing to say so. However, sometimes people need to grow to know to know to speak up. However, people can also speak up by their actions. Either way, sitting back hoping to be singled out of the group seldom works.
Then why was he a mind reader for some of the men? Why is it ok that some of the men sat back, didn’t ask, and mentoring fell in their lap due to the sexist assumption that the men wanted to move up and were not held back by caregiving responsibilities like a woman automatically would be? I did not say I was not at fault. I said the fault was shared.
Anyone else want to weigh in here? Anyone else see the obvious duality to this issue?
“Then why was he a mind reader for some of the men?”Why is it ok that some of the men sat back, didn’t ask, and mentoring fell in their lap due to the sexist assumption that the men wanted to move up and were not held back by caregiving responsibilities like a woman automatically would be? I did not say I was not at fault. I said the fault was shared.” Was it that all the men were mentored but none of the women? I mean, that’s possible. Maybe he hates women, and will do anything in his power to… Read more »
Eric, just read through my comments again. It’s exactly as I say it was. It is not different than what I say it was. The explanations you offer are not how it was. I was exemplary at my job. My evaluations every year were spectacular. I still have them. I got a stellar recommendation when I eventually left. My supervisor did not hate women! he was simply clueless about the mentoring piece, and TOLD me that after the fact when he apologized. I could take the rest of this point by point, but please understand I just feel down about… Read more »
Lori, You are taking this as a personal affront – and it is absolutely not meant to be. Nowhere in my comment did I suggest her performance was poor, implying that yours was, which is how you seem to be taking it. The manager and I were more similar in that we were restless techno-geeks, wanting to test and deploy bleeding edge technology, which was completely outside the scope of my job description at the time. In the context of our job assignments, she was just as good as or better than I was. She got great reviews and will… Read more »
Thank you for speaking up and engaging in the debate. I for one think you have a point.
Were there other women who were or were not mentored? Did any of them speak up or not speak up?
Has your experience changed that fellow’s approach to working with juniors?
Oops again. Meant to be replying to you Lori. Doesn’t look that way from the indents on the comments.
BTW, Eric, liked your criteria for who you mentored and who you didn’t. Useful with my students.
Thank you. No, there were no other lateral women at that time–just men. I am not there anymore, but would hope and believe this has changed for the better. We BOTH learned something, not just me. We both acknowledged fault. Thanks again.
Lori it sounds like you got a solid review because you did your job and did it well; but did not go above and beyond in a way that indicated you were aiming for the next level. Doing your job is just that doing your job you got rewarded for it. If you wanted more you had to stretch. Chances are the men did not ask to be mentored in so many words; but by their actions. The manager responded to the actions and gave more attention they continued to do what garnered that attention. Bottom line talk is just… Read more »
You have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. I went so above and beyond it was beyond question. I was KNOWN for going the extra mile, taking on the extra assignments, doing tasks well outside of my assigned duties. Good try–but no cigar–again. Who do you think you are? How do you think you know what I was like on my job? Are you just someone who enjoys baiting other people, second-guessing them, putting them down? You could not be more wrong. At this point, the conversation is not productive because, seemingly, everyone wants to find a reason I… Read more »
Anyone else see the obvious duality to this issue? Duality is not as simple as people think! Take the Iraq war – The world against Sadam. Transcend – and internationally recognized organization that deals in “Conflict Transformation” issued a report as to the motives and actions taken. They found that there were 32 separate aims and intentions embedded in the “Duality”. I blame the media – they have a habit of dumbing down! P^) As I said on another thread – There is your side! – There is their side! – And there is The Truth! The first casualty of… Read more »
I have worked as a professional in an office setting for 20 years, and have never heard of “mentoring” in this setting. I assume this is an east coast, ivy-league tradition?
Chances are the men acted like they wanted to do more, be more etc. pay attention to what they did that led up to the mentor relationship forming. Grace Hopper was right is it easier to ask forgiveness than get permission – so if you want to do more step up and do it. Men tend to act to show what they want intentions are shown via actions. Actions are what get attention. Actions speak for themselves and if the message is not clear then questions will be asked which opens the door for discussion. Never ask someone for something… Read more »
I have ask Lori: How in gods name do you know what all the other men did, they could have emailed him, talked to him when you weren’t around, they might have been overheard talking about it and how they would like to be mentored. I am sorry but too many people claim they know why something happened when it did , when in reality they have no clue. Kinda like people claiming “My mom did twice the work of all the men in her company but is only paid half the wages”. This was an actual claim but a… Read more »
I don’t understand, when Hugo says: ” It means being willing to stand up to the kind of tedious and predictable gossip that nearly invariably follows when a man begins to mentor a woman.” it seems like he’s saying that the reason that men hold back from mentoring is *fear of gossip*. Last I checked, we live in a world where a baseless accusation can lead to *immediate dismissal* in the private sector. I’m reasonably certain it’s not the gossip that men are afraid of: it’s losing their jobs that men fear. Want to fix this? Create policies that give… Read more »
I think these are some good suggestions. Similar to how our court systems work.
Uh, not quite. Google Caleb Warner. Still no justice there. And yet Senator Leahy wanted to enshrine what happened to Warner in Federal Statute.
Ask the guys falsely accused of abuse so the ex-wife gets custody of the children and gets to use that custody to extract Every Final Penny from the sucker ex-husband.
Ask the guys who are jailed for non-payment of child support because they are unemployed (don’t believe me? look for the Law Review article subtitled: The Silence Return of Debtors’ Prison outlining the horror show.
Correction, Silent not Silence in that subtitle.
Looks like lawyers at play again – won’t apologize due to possible litigation risk!
I am interested in the change of evidentiary standards being imposed by Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education.
It is not normal in any way for any procedure underway to suddenly have to change from one standard of evidence to another – under Federal Mandate.
That is a manifest breach on Natural Justice.