That Girl’s Blog: #MeToo #Now What

It’s like watching a house of cards crumble on top of itself. Less than two months ago, actress Alyssa Milano made a social media Tweet that was met with a thunderous response from women around the world:

“Suggested by a friend: If all the women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted wrote ‘Me too’ as a status, we might give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem.”

#MeToo posts began to overtake the Internet. It was like watching a worst-case scenario map of the United States showing a Zombie Apocalypse. 

I want to say some of us held our breath, but it was the exact opposite: We were finally able to EXHALE! It was liberating! We told our stories. Women and men were being supported by friends and peers. Like any social media wave, the number of posts swell and recede and swell again.

Now we are watching the fallout. And there is no better term than FALL to describe what we are seeing happen across the country. Politicians, celebrities and major business executives are being marched through the news feeds like Hector being dragged around the walls of Troy.

Am I being a little dramatic?

Maybe.

But, like so many women I know who swap stories at “Girls Nights,” I can tell you first-hand experiences of #MeToo. I actually quit one of my first full-time radio jobs down South after the owner of the station asked if I was performing at the local strip club, because he was bringing clients in from out of town. The clients were standing right there. 

Side note: I did not, nor have I ever, worked at a strip club.  Side note 2: When I talked to HR, I was told to “take a number.” Side note 3: I quit.

This was one of the tamer of many embarrassing situations I was thrust into while working for the (now defunct) company.   At the time, I was trying to work my way up the ranks in an industry that was male-dominated and “sexually charged.” I am eternally grateful that I am now working for a company where I don’t dread going to work. I am fortunate that I work for a broadcasting group that is more like family to me than anywhere else I have worked. Am I in the minority? 

As much as our world has changed and more and more women are now dominant members of the entertainment business and media, there is still an icky side. For better or for worse, we are now seeing the icky side of life in bold face headlines with spot lights.

#NowWhat 

Will the rest of the landscape change? Will the public shaming of high profile men like Matt Lauer, Garrison Keillor, Al Franken, Roy Moore, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and countless others have an impact?

Will this public verbal flogging make life better or easier for the 17-year-old lifeguard at the community pool, who is afraid to change in the employee locker room? What about the 27-year-old single mother, working at the check-out of the grocery store, who is constantly “bumped” and “tickled” by her boss? Will it help the 37-year-old waitress, who puts up with crude comments in order to make her tips?

I don’t know. I hope so. But, I don’t know.

I do know that behavior is learned. Good or bad, it’s what we demonstrate that has a lasting impact.

Life has taught me a few things: People will not always treat you the way you WANT them to. Regardless of how you are treated, be kind, be respectful, be helpful when you can and be strong.

About Cat Wilson

Cat Wilson is "That Girl" on Cape Country 104 – a Cape Cod native and longtime Cape radio personality. She is a passionate supporter of Military and Veteran causes on the Cape and also hosts local music spotlight program, “The Cheap Seats” on Ocean 104.7.



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