FitzGibbon Media and the problem of sexual harassment in the progressive movement
Nothing that will surprise anyone that reads this group, of course.
http://www.vox.com/2015/12/21/10632508/fitzgibbon-sexual-harassment-progressive
Another former staffer said FitzGibbon didn't react well when he was told about sexual harassment allegations against someone else at the firm. He was angry and dismissive, yelling about how he didn't believe that such a "good guy" could do something like that. FitzGibbon also had issues with some anti-rape campaigns the firm ran, according to the staffer. At one point he confronted an employee about the campaign in front of about 10 other people. He questioned the tactics of holding "alleged" rapists accountable, talked about how false rape accusations had ruined his friend's life, and said that being accused of rape was actually worse than being raped.
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"In more than a decade in the movement, I've never worked at a progressive organization or campaign where sexual harassment wasn't an issue of some kind," said one female progressive strategist who asked not to be named. "I think it's a lot harder for progressive organizations to create a space that's free from that than people think it is."
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Another progressive strategist recalled moving to DC and having three different women give her lists of which members of Congress she should avoid being alone in a room with. The lists included members from both parties, and there were enough of them that all three lists had different names.
Enduring inappropriate advances from men in power is "bipartisan and almost like a rite of passage in DC from what female friends have told me," Mary said. And of course, politics isn't the only place where men get away with routinely abusing their power over women who fear not being believed, or fear retaliation because of a man's influence. Just look at Bill Cosby .
But when these problems occur even at organizations where feminism and inclusivity are taken for granted as basic values, it shows how stubborn and persistent sexism can be. It's not necessarily that the movement is hypocritical; it's just made up of human beings who were raised in a deeply patriarchal culture. "We all grew up with these prejudices, and fixing them isn't easy," said one progressive strategist. "Supporting the right causes isn't enough. This is hard work, and people who want a pass on that need to get out of the way."
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