Sociology Women in Hollywood

Question:-

write a paper on why Women in Hollywood not Feel Safe from Sexual Harassment

Answer:-

Harvey Weinstein was accused of harassing multiple women sexually over 30 years by exploiting his influential position. The Weinstein sex scandal initiated the #MeToo movement which soon spread across other parts of the globe. Therefore, the verdict of considering Weinstein as guilty and prison sentence of 23 years was expected to the perceived as a positive sign towards promoting women safety at the workplace. However, the survey which was done on approximately 10000 men and women is exactly opposite to the expectation. The survey reported by Noveck (2020) indicates that most of the people considered that the Weinstein case does not ensure that the risk of sexual harassment is eliminated from society.

I believe that the power imbalance between men and women is the primary reason behind sexual harassment of women at work. The Weinstein case is prominent examples which strengthen my belief. All the women who were abused by Harvey Weinstein had lower power than him. The lack of power made them more vulnerable to abuse and harassment. However, due to the lack of power, many of them did not get the courage to complain Harvey. Lodging a formal complaint is the first step to resolve a case of sexual harassment. Due to the lack of power, the victims perceived that their complaints are not taken seriously. It restricted them from complaining on time. Additionally, the power imbalance also increases the risk of retaliation towards the victims. I think the fear of retaliation against women is a primary reason behind the persistence issue of sexual abuse at work. Many women fear complaining against the higher authority at work fearing the negative impact on their career. The same happens with the bystanders. They too have a high risk of being retaliated and it prevents them from supporting the victims. The lack of support restricts women from establishing their claims. In the Weinstein case also, the women and their bystanders are questioned for not complaining at the time of the harassment. However, I feel they hesitated before lodging the complaint considering the adverse effects on their career.

In recent days, the awareness of reporting and incident of abuse of sexual harassment is increasing among the people in Hollywood. However, I think the fear of retaliation is not eliminated despite the enhance level of awareness. The survey findings revealed by Noveck  (2020) support my belief as only 4% of the individuals reported the incident to the legal department. A major portion of the victims preferred complaining their supervisors regarding the incident. The lower level of legal reporting indicates that the teams and the bystanders want to avoid the risk of negative impact on their career while reporting such incidents. Therefore they prefer informal reporting which is likely to have less negative effects.

The concept of intersectionality indicates that the identity of an individual is shaped by different social vectors such as sexism, and racism, as stated by Ruíz (2017). I find the concept of intersectionality is reflected in the survey findings also. The survey also indicates that the perceived vulnerability towards sexual harassment and abuse varies based on gender, and membership to specific social groups. As evident from the survey reported by Noveck (2020), 45% of men consider that the person, who is accused of sexual harassment, will be held accountable despite the powerful position whereas only 28% of women think the same. I think the difference between attitudes towards the accountability of the accused person is observed because of the differential exposure to sexual harassment between men and women. The female is more exposed to abuse and sexual harassment. Shields (2008) indicated that women have experienced the negative impacts of power exploitation such as in Education. Therefore, they are more suspicious about the success of recent initiatives to reduce the risk of abuse and harassment. On the contrary, men in society are in a more powerful position. Therefore they are less exposed to the negative effects of power exploitation. It made them more optimistic about the safety of women at workplace in future.

 The confidence in the sexual harassment resolving system is even lower among the underrepresented group such as biracial women. Lukose(2018) indicated that the biracial women group has lower authority in the society. They have higher experience of being in a vulnerable position. In case of the sexual harassment also, they feel that their voice will not be heard. I think the lack of confidence among biracial women on the system to ensure their safety from sexual abuse and harassment is closely associated with the decolonization of feminism. #MeToo is nowadays used widely in the context of Weinstein case and the subsequent global movement, although the term was coined by the African-American Civil rights activist, Tarana Burke in 2006,  as indicated  by Lukose (2018). However, the movement drew the attention of more people when the term was used again by a group of females who were led by Italian actress Asia Argento. #MeToo movement provided the women with the platform to report the sexual abuse but I cannot overlook the importance of decolonization in the society.