Sexual misconduct – same crap, different era

by Angus Reid | February 12, 2018 6:30 pm

By Shachi Kurl – Executive Director[1]

When I was growing up, they told us girls we could have it all. Careers in sciences and maths (or whatever we wanted), financial independence, sex appeal, kids … like, ALL of it. Along with those Spice Girls CDs, we bought it.

We knew our mums were the glass-ceiling breakers. The ones who wore horrible mousey suits that mirrored male clothing, the ones who walked through life with an “ain’t no one going to protect you but you” mentality. They went to work armed with the full knowledge that many men didn’t want them there and viewed them mostly as sex objects. They marched into offices with a belief that battle scars were well worth the earning.

When it came to my generation, I can’t say that anyone really pulled us aside in school and said, “Actually, some men are still going to behave quite badly, so be prepared.” Instead, they told us, “You go, girl.” And so we went, empowered, but arguably not quite ready for the slap in the face (or literally, the hand on the butt) that is this persistent sexual harassment on the job.

For the rest of this piece, please view it on the Ottawa Citizen’s site[2], where it was initially published.

 

Image Credit – AMC

Endnotes:
  1. By Shachi Kurl – Executive Director: http://www.angusreid.org/our-team/shachi-kurl
  2. Ottawa Citizen’s site: http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/kurl-sexual-misconduct-same-crap-different-era

Source URL: https://angusreid.org/shachi-kurl-sexual-misconduct-crap-different-era/