#MeToo, sexual harassment: an article, a forum, and a dream for the future

ABSTRACT

#MeToo has breathed new life into the women’s movement and especially into understanding and rectifying sexual harassment, abuse and assault. It has galvanized activists around the globe. And it has placed thousands of stories of the harassed in full view of the public. Sexual harassment, abuse and assault may occur within the organizational context or beyond; but sexual harassment, in particular has been legally labeled an organizational phenomenon. With this in mind, Robin Clair frames the early part of this article around the most recent organizational communication theories (see the appendix for an overview of these theories). Following the essay is a forum, in which invited scholars address questions related to the #MeToo movement.

Keywords:

• #MeToo
• sexual harassment
• organizational communication
• politics of gender

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. This article and forum are drawn from an earlier version presented at the National Communication Association (November, 2018) ‘We’re NOT playing: #Me Too, #Time’s Up, and #the game IS changing.’ The original contributors were Robin Patric Clair (Ed.), Nadia E. Brown, Hannah Delemeester, Debbie Dougherty, Patricia Geist Martin, and Paaige K. Turner.

2. The DREAM model, see the end of the appendix and endnote 6.

3. Clay tablets, dating to 2100 BCE, speak of a self-serving despot – Gilgamesh. In the first half of the story, the people pray to the heavens to send relief from Gilgamesh’s preying ways, especially his raping of young brides (Epic of Gilgamesh, 2018). These assaults are often marginalized by scholars who focus instead on the second half of the story, the theme of achieving everlasting life through legendary contributions, like building a wall. Fisher (1984) never mentions Gilgamesh’s assaults.

4. Equivalency organization and communication are ‘Equal in force, amount or value’ as in ‘a square equivalent to a triangle’ (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equivalent).

5. This is a case brought forth in Tippecanoe County, Indiana of a man who snuck into a woman’s room, pretended to be her boyfriend and had sex with her. He blatantly admitted to the act and said it was not against the law because she never said, no. The local prosecutor is calling for a law that will make ‘rape by deception’ illegal.