Recently there has been a plethora of stories around Sexual Harassment. It seemingly started with the movie mogul, producer, and co-founder of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein. But for most women, this started long before the, what has now been tagged as #metoo. Women have been suffering under this guise for a long time. Harassment isn’t new, what is new, is the swift actions taken to remove the cancer. No longer are we seeing “suspension without pay”, or the all to common “under investigation,” men, even those who have been touted as powerful, have lost their jobs, their seemingly pristine reputations, men such as Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Kevin Spacey, and a whole host of others. Which brings me to my point; are these men powerful because they have money, fame, and titles? Now I agree, they are perceived as powerful because of them being at the top of their games, actor, producer, news anchor,etc. but shall we take a look at what real power looks like, behaves, and speaks .
Some of the acts that have been perpetuated against a lot of the women who have come forward which according to yahoo.com, has been thousands of women, and counting.
In my opinion the actions of these men are not about exhibiting power, but the complete opposite. Sure, they used the power of their titles, money and fame, to gain access to humiliate, harass, and hurt these women, but this was not from a place of power. A truly powerful man, or woman, loans their expertise, advice, or become some type of mentor to help further the careers of those really willing to do the work. These actions, and continued choices and decisions come from a far less superior place and complex than power, but insecurity, ego, and perversion. Now before I go any further, I am by no means, anti male, my favorite people are men. My father, may God rest his soul, and my son. And I have many other positive male role models whom I have admired in the past, and do in the present. It’s quite a list but here are just a few of the men I admire both alive and have passed on; My Dad, Martin Luther King Jr., Warren Buffett, Barak Obama. Are these men perfect? no, but certainly admirable. But back to the definition of powerful; having great power, prestige or influence.
Insecure people use their position as a mission to their own agendas. Powerful people use their position to further the likes of humanity. There is a distinct difference. People driven by their egos, administer pain and humiliation to others because they are ego driven, not purpose driven, and there lies the character issue. There’s a quote by Abraham Lincoln that describes this dynamic, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to tests a mans character, give him power.” Character is what you do when nobody’s watching, and apparently some of the accused believed that they were beyond reproach for their severe character flaws, and although some of the cases are older in time and may have happened over a decade ago, karma doesn’t expire. The universe pays you back, good or bad for what you sew. As the good book says “you reap what you sew.”
One more thing, I believe that WE, meaning both men and women, can aid in real change regarding this matter. Not all men are sexual predators, and for those who are willing to exercise real power, we should absolutely invite and accept their support.
The #metoo movement, that’s powerful! Feel the difference.
Blessings,