Anita Hill: Women's Rights Beyond Susan B. Anthony

Some you readers know, March is National Women's History Month. Sure, when we were in middle school, it was sufficient to learn about Susan B. Anthony and Margaret Thatcher. We all know what Maya Angelou, Amelia Bloomer and Margaret Mitchell did for America. They're important role models and they furthered the women's rights movement in unparalleled ways. But since the 1970's women's rights hasn't been an issue, which would be fine if there weren't any problems. But you can't pick up a newspaper, or turn on the local news, without hearing about women being assaulted, molested, or harassed. Police are called, search parties are sent out and people are prosecuted. Rather than just catching and punishing sexual miscreants, the solution to the problem should really be rehabilitation and early education. This isn't an isolated issue. It affects your mothers, sisters, daughters and virtually any woman you care about.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, only 15,000 cases of sexual harassment are brought to them each year. Unfortunately, media and government surveys report 40 to 60% of women feel they have been sexually harassed in the workplace. This means that out of the 69 million women working in America, between 28 and 41 million felt harassed, but only .022% filed suit. Even worse, 83% of women feel sexually harassed by 11^th grade. 62% of college women have been sexually harassed. Yet according to Wikipedia and most women's research studies, most sexual harassment situations go unreported. That means that way more than 41 million women in America who are working have felt sexually harassed. What are the odds she isn't someone you love?

The problem with sexual harassment is that it is not flirtatious or cute, but rather acts of violence and domination. Although there is a difference between yelling at a woman and raping her, both are bad in different ways. We all know how rape is wrong; the physical as well as psychological consequences are horrible. But the psychological problems that come with saying or yelling lewd sexual remarks at a woman can be just as terrifying.

Take the case of Anita Hill, a one time lawyer for the U.S, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. When her former employer, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was nominated for the Supreme Court in 1991, Anita Hill was subpoenaed to testify about complaints she had previously made against Clarence Thomas. Reportedly Anita Hill told the FBI that Clarence Thomas had made vulgar sexual remarks to her. This information haphazardly leaked to the media and a political author named David Brock made a career satirizing and criticizing Anita Hill, calling her "A little bit nutty, and a little bit slutty."

Anita Hill quit her previously successful job as a lawyer for the EEOC and returned home to teach law at Brandeis University, embarrassed to be forced into the public limelight. After reporting something horrible said to her by her employer (The former chairman of the EEOC), she had been publicly ridiculed. Clarence Thomas was elected Supreme Court justice, and after David Brock made millions, he apologized in 2002 and said that the Right Wing media paid him a lot of money to make people look bad. Big mistake.

This is not just a problem on the national level. Even in our local schools and businesses, women are harassed every day. I talked to Sarah Kern who was a server at a local family restaurant. Jessica lived from paycheck to paycheck. She enjoyed her job, enjoyed serving customers and brought home relatively decent tips.

There was a male server who continuously bothered Sarah. Whenever they were in the kitchen together which vicariously happened a lot, he would say sexual remarks to her. He would describe lewd topics to her and when she complained he told the management she liked it. They told Sarah that there was nothing they could do, and that she should just avoid him. Normally, Sarah could have sued. But this particular restaurant had her sign a contract when she was hired that was mandatory for her employment stating that in case of a sexual harassment situation, she must tell the management and let the company deal with it and not take it to court. She dealt with it for awhile because she needed the money but eventually she quit and found another job. She's mature enough to know that she shouldn't have to put up with that kind of behavior.

As for women's history month, respect Susan B. Anthony, but don't forget Anita Hill. Remember your little sister, your mom, your grandmother, your girlfriend, whoever. It's neither cute nor appealing to harass women.