No, Mika. Your Friend’s Victims DO NOT Have To Listen To ANYTHING He Has To Say

Oh, good night nurse. Mika Brzezinski apparently had some interesting things to say about the accusers of her friend and colleague who lost his job over alleged sexual harassment on her show, Morning Joe, charging that it’s the accusers’ role to enable us to “grow as a society.” (Think Progress).

Is she kidding?

What is it about television journalists? Are they all channeling their inner Jerry Springer? Women who have been harassed and/or assaulted by men don’t want to rehash all of it in front of a camera or in front of Goddess who knows who is watching. It’s bad enough that these things happened in the first place, but to be interviewed on camera about it while the alleged predator is present is too much for most women to endure. They want it all to go away.

It’s sickening to hear men talk about pursuing consensual relationships with women in the workplace. While it’s true that successful relationships begin all the time at work, when they’re unwanted, it can make the work environment intolerable. These men arrogantly confuse female co-workers doing everything they can to get away from them as interest. Women try to be nice and not create any conflict so that their jobs remain secure because they know that no one will ever fire the predator.

I have no idea whether or not the allegations against Mika’s friend and colleague are true or they’re false. But then, neither does she. Only her friend and colleague, along with the women in question, knows what happened during those unwanted exchanges. And I realize that it’s odd now that men are losing their jobs over this behavior, but when the behavior occurs there then it is what it is.

I do agree, however, that it seems like we’re painting all men who behave inappropriately with a fairly large brush. But when we’ve let this crap go on for as long as it has, then I suppose the initial wave of skeevy men will have to take one for the team as it were. Sorry about that, but women have been coping with anything from unwanted looks and comments to full on sexual assault forever, no matter what our age. While we don’t want to become a tiki torch bearing mob, as a society, we need to look at what’s been happening and then refuse to accept this kind of behavior from anyone.

Change is messy. But so is making someone feel anything other than safe.

Survivors aren’t here to increase ratings for a morning television show. We simply want to end the silence and heal.

 

References

1. Baird. Addy. Morning Joe attacks sexual assault victims. Think Progress. Dec. 22, 2017.