WBEZ: Though sexual harassment is rarely as blatant as “Sleep with me or I’ll fire/won’t hire you,” most workplaces–and theater is no exception–are shot through with male bosses who are too friendly, male co-workers who are implacably hostile, and all the other symptoms of unchecked power to demean and intimidate women. And who has more unchecked power than a director in the midst of auditions?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The problem that won't go away: Chicago's casting couches
WBEZ: Though sexual harassment is rarely as blatant as “Sleep with me or I’ll fire/won’t hire you,” most workplaces–and theater is no exception–are shot through with male bosses who are too friendly, male co-workers who are implacably hostile, and all the other symptoms of unchecked power to demean and intimidate women. And who has more unchecked power than a director in the midst of auditions?
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This article brings to attention an issue in the industry that is not even close to being something of the past. I have worked in the theatre industry for a mere six years and have already been involved in two sexual harassment cases (and these are just the ones that have been officially reported.) I have spoken to psychologists who say that the arts is actual one of the biggest places for sexual harassment since there are so many blurred professional lines. I'm glad this article mentions the fact that no names need to be used: so many people do not report sexual harassment in fear of never being able to get a job again, but the police too take anonymous reports and people should know that. I do not know what the solution is to this prevalent sexual harassment problem is, but I can only hope that it improves drastically in the near future.
I think its rough to deal with sexual harassment in this industry, especially for those area still prodominately male. It's a business that hries it's friends. And if you are constantly compaining about so and so touching you inappropriately or making jokes, then you are being more difficult to work with than someone else might be. And if they don't want to deal with that then they won't hire you. With actors it's hard because they really need to be comfortable with eachother, so those lines get blurred easily.
My problem with sexual harassment is that what you may consider sexual harassment, someone else might just call flirting or playing or teasing. The line is hard to define between being sensitive and being harassed. This industry loves their sex jokes. They love to be innapropriate in order to remain unfiltered for the creative process. Theres also, generally, a lot of loose sexual activity within the theatre industry as opposed to others.
I don't know how to solve the problem without creating boundaries in the workplace that make it more trouble than it's worth to hire women.
It's sad to think that sexual harassment will never be a thing of the past. But it's the truth. Artists in the theater, especially actors, dancers, choreographers, and directors, work very intimately with one another. They have to open themselves up to their coworkers in a way that most people don't have to. So it's horrible that these so many women that are already in vulnerable positions must be victimized. I don't like that this author said that sexual harassment only means men abusing women, though. How does she know? I'm sure that the instances of women being abused are statistically higher, but that's not to say that men don't have to be concerned about their work environment. On another note, it's interesting to hear the author's comments on the prominence of the casting couch in Chicago and peoples' inability to detect it because the pool of possible actresses is already so talented. I would never think that some of these talented actresses have to be sexually forced in order to make it in the business and Chicago specifically, but I guess that's me turning a blind eye to reality. I hope these women find support and it's great that this author is reaching out to help them.
Shannon touches on the fact that sexual harassment is not just an issue for women, but also an issue for men in the industry. When there are many male actors working to succeed, there can be instances in which they feel forced into a situation to further their career. Yes, stereotypically, women are characterized as being the victim in sexual harassment cases, but this is not always the case. Like Hannah mentioned, a lot of the relationships we have always have two sides. What one person may consider a friendly gesture, another may consider as harassment. This is something that everyone must be very careful about while in the workplace.
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