TresSugar

Say What? Ex-Letterman Writer Says Hostile Work Environment No Joke

TresSugar — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0700

"Was I aware that other high-level male employees were having sexual relationships with female staffers? Yes. Did these female staffers have access to information and wield power disproportionate to their job titles? Yes. Did that create a hostile work environment? Yes. Did I believe these female staffers were benefiting professionally from their personal relationships? Yes. Did that make me feel demeaned? Completely. Did I say anything at the time? Sadly, no."

- Nell Scovell, a female writer on the David Letterman show in the '80s, on why she left her "dream job" in less than four months as a writer on the show because of the sexual atmosphere there. Sexual favoritism, a subset of sexual harassment, creates a hostile work environment for women who are not having sex with higher ranking men by creating an uncomfortable sexual atmosphere in which it appears that advancement is predicated on having a sexual relationship with higher-ups. In 27 years, there have only been seven female writers on Late Night and Late Show. Scovell's dream? "I just want Dave to hire some qualified female writers and then treat them with respect. And that goes for Jay and Conan, too." As of today, there are no women out of the 50 comedy writers writing for Late Show With David Letterman, The Jay Leno Show, and The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien.

Meredith Vieira to Navy Pilot: "I'm an Old, Horny Woman"

TresSugar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:00:00 -0700

Should Max Shuman of Virginia Beach, VA, want to file a sexual harassment charge against Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? guest host Meredith Vieira, he will have no trouble providing documentation to the authorities.

Unbeknownst to him, the young (and yes, incredibly hot) Navy pilot walked into a cougar's den of lust and inappropriate comments. You can actually watch the poor guy's face change from amused to slightly afraid as it becomes clear that Meredith is not going to stop ribbing him or making horrible double entendres. Sample dialogue: when the clearly rigged question "The childhood prank known as a wet willie involves putting a wet finger in someone's what?" comes up, Meredith says, "Anywhere you want to put it, Max." And that is but one example!

Down, Meredith, down!

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Say What? National Organization For Women on Letterman

TresSugar — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0700

"As 'the boss,' he is responsible for setting the tone for his entire workplace - and he did that with sex. In any work environment, this places all employees -including employees who happen to be women - in an awkward, confusing and demoralizing situation."

- Terry O'Neill for the National Organization for Women reminding people that David Letterman's admitted affairs with female staffers over the years, although described as consensual, occurred in the workplace and constitute what many people would consider an abuse of power by an employer toward his employees. Because men who are bosses decide who to hire, fire, advance, and give raises to, "consent" is made between two people who are not equals. Letterman has since apologized to viewers, to his entire staff over the years, and to his wife, Regina Lasko, but O'Neill wants people to remember this happens every day in workplaces all over the country. If you'd like to hear what she thinks CBS should do to fix this "toxic" situation, read more.

Do You Get Harassed by Strangers?

TresSugar — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:00:00 -0700

All (women) aboard! India's four largest cities recently introduced the "Ladies Special" - a commuter train for women only. The cities have found that the segregated service is needed to prevent women from being groped, pinched, and subjected to shouted insults while they commute to work.

India isn't the first country to try something like this. Last year Mexico City addressed public sexual harassment by debuting women-only buses marked with pink placards of course. And such harassment is so prevalent in Japan that there's even a word ("chikan") just for subway gropers. (And let's not forget that you don't have to be groped to be harassed; you might witness someone masturbating while you're trying to get to work on the subway!)

Knowing that you can travel in peace must be a relief for women who have been sexually harassed by strange men. Does this ever happen to you?

Women the Target of Sexual Advances By Religious Leaders

TresSugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:00:00 -0700

There's a new survey out there that will make you say: "Oh my God!" According to Baylor University researchers, one in every 33 women who attend religious services regularly has been a target of sexual advances made by a religious leader. What's worse, two-thirds of the offending leaders were married when they hit on a worshiper.

Luckily, many denominations treat relations between leaders and worshipers like sexual harassment in the workplace. The Rabbinical Assembly, a group of conservative rabbis, officially states that the "power imbalance between clergy and those to whom the minister makes it clear that sexual contacts in these situations are by definition nonconsensual." In addition, many faiths have clergy go through mandatory training on how to prevent sexual misconduct. But based on the survey, which reveals widespread misconduct, it appears more efforts are needed.

Do these results surprise you? Is there nowhere a woman can go free from sexual advances?

Flashback: Casual Friday Gone Wrong

TresSugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:00:00 -0700

They sure had an odd way of advertising pants back in the day (the '60s?).

Let's feature a woman in her underwear surrounded by guys wearing Broomsticks brand pants. (Broomsticks?!) The copy underneath the picture suggests that the "play" at work that Broomsticks pants inspire involves sexually harassing "Rosie. Or Carol. Or Eleanor, etc." (You know women - all equally harassable and interchangeable, especially when practically naked at work.) As one blogger put it, "Broomsticks. Your gang-rapey pants." Yowza. To see the complete ad, read more

"The Game Is Broomsticks. Ring around Rosie. Or Carol. Or Eleanor, etc. Fun. But you can only play if you wear Broomsticks slacks. Hopsacks, twists, flannels in blends of Acrilan and rayon for permanently pressed good looks. Play styles. Game colors. To help make you a winner. But if you don’t want to play our way - take off our pants and go home."

Say What? 1960s Ad Agencies Really Were All Sex and Booze

TresSugar — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0700

"We used to have an agency 'sex' contest near the end of every year. . . . We'd go to a no-name Mexican restaurant . . . and we'd drink giant margaritas all day. . . . We'd take a blind vote to name the person at the agency you'd most want to go to bed with. We also took a vote on the person of the same sex you'd like to go to bed with. We did this for 15 years. I'd get to announce the winners each year. The first prize was a weekend at The Plaza hotel for the winning couple."

- Veteran Madison Avenue advertising executive Jerry Della Femina, 73, shared his experience working as a mad man in the 1960s. He said the characters on Mad Men would look innocent if you compared their actions to what really went down.

Do you think you could have worked in an environment like that?

Photo courtesy of AMC

Indian Colleges Blame Jeans For Sexual Harassment

TresSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Female university students in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh can no longer wear jeans or any other Western clothes to school. It's all for their own protection, of course - officials say that expelling women who dress like this is "the only way to stop crime against women."

If the schools really wanted to stop sexual harassment, they should probably go after the men who perpetrate it. The backwards logic makes me think this rule is really about preserving conservative values against the invasion of western culture, and I might be right: Hindu extremist groups have increasingly protested phenomena like women drinking in bars or publicly displaying affection.

Regardless of the motivation, the stated logic behind this rule - that men cannot control their actions and it's somehow a woman's fault if she is a target of sexual abuse - is nothing new or unique to India.
Source

Flashback: Is It or Isn't It Sexual Harassment? PSA

TresSugar — Thu, 21 May 2009 06:00:00 -0700

I've had to deal with sexual harassers, so I know that sexual harassment is no laughing matter. Sexual harassment public service announcements and training videos, however, tend to be ridiculous. Take this manager at what looks like a sad salad bar somewhere. The only possible response she could give, besides the glare she gives him, is to respond, "You should see how well I handle these tongs."

Flirting With Jail? 400 Egyptian Teens Arrested For Flirting

LibertySugar — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:30:13 -0800

A not-so-playful police sting in Cairo netted about 400 teenage boys accused of flirting with girls. Just yesterday, law enforcement rounded up the underage wannabe-seducers in front of schools, universities, or other public places where teens hang out. The teens will most likely face fines.

While a crackdown on innocent flirting seems oppressive, something beyond prudish attitudes motivated the sting. Egyptian women deal with an extraordinary amount of sexual harassment and assault in public. In Egypt, two-thirds of men admit to harassing women in public.

Last month, an Egyptian court handed down a sentence of hard labor and three years in jail for a man convicted of groping a woman in public. Now it looks like officials want to teach younger males a lesson before they graduate from flirting to groping. Do you think the Casanova roundup will work?

Source