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Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Non-Equity Chicago theaters create a code of conduct to address sexual harassment
Chicago Tribune: Lori Myers and Laura T. Fisher, in association with Not in Our House collective, say they have created a code of conduct for Chicago's non-Equity theaters.
2 comments:
Julian Goldman
said...
I think the creating and publicizing this code is a good idea. Sexual harassment is a major problem, and if any organization has no policy for dealing with it, then people won’t be held accountable. If there are clear rules that have been determined in advance, then something can actually be does if sexual harassment is reported, and there can be an actual system for reporting it. It think most organizations would like to have a policy, but in order to have a policy, someone needs to make a policy, and that is very time consuming, and it also might be ambiguous whose job it would be to make such a policy. Because of this, Myers and Fisher creating this policy will allow other companies to use it as is or make slight modifications to it and then have a system in place when they otherwise wouldn’t have had the time to create one.
You know what, I'm glad that these theaters are taking the initiative to form a policy on sexual-harassment. Codes like these are extremely important, if there is a clear definition and consequences for this form of sexual violence, maybe it will actually be reported. However, in most policies like this one around the united states, nothing really helps. I cannot begin to count the number of sexual harassment seminars I've had to sit through. Every year in school, every job, and sometimes even in volunteer work. Educating workers is excellent. And it does stop some people from harassing others. But sexual harassment will still happen in the workplace. It is so ingrained into our culture. We teach it to our sons, our daughters are forced to grow up under its shadow. It will never go away. Just today I was catcalled by a group of what looked like lower high school or upper middle school boys. It was confusing and enraging, and overwhelmingly sad that even at their ages, they had already learned and decided to participate in the worst of society. It is terrible that the sexualization of women is so permeated into our society. So, I appreciate the gesture that these theaters are making, but I fail to see the change these policies promise to bring reflected into our society.
2 comments:
I think the creating and publicizing this code is a good idea. Sexual harassment is a major problem, and if any organization has no policy for dealing with it, then people won’t be held accountable. If there are clear rules that have been determined in advance, then something can actually be does if sexual harassment is reported, and there can be an actual system for reporting it. It think most organizations would like to have a policy, but in order to have a policy, someone needs to make a policy, and that is very time consuming, and it also might be ambiguous whose job it would be to make such a policy. Because of this, Myers and Fisher creating this policy will allow other companies to use it as is or make slight modifications to it and then have a system in place when they otherwise wouldn’t have had the time to create one.
You know what, I'm glad that these theaters are taking the initiative to form a policy on sexual-harassment. Codes like these are extremely important, if there is a clear definition and consequences for this form of sexual violence, maybe it will actually be reported. However, in most policies like this one around the united states, nothing really helps. I cannot begin to count the number of sexual harassment seminars I've had to sit through. Every year in school, every job, and sometimes even in volunteer work. Educating workers is excellent. And it does stop some people from harassing others. But sexual harassment will still happen in the workplace. It is so ingrained into our culture. We teach it to our sons, our daughters are forced to grow up under its shadow. It will never go away. Just today I was catcalled by a group of what looked like lower high school or upper middle school boys. It was confusing and enraging, and overwhelmingly sad that even at their ages, they had already learned and decided to participate in the worst of society. It is terrible that the sexualization of women is so permeated into our society. So, I appreciate the gesture that these theaters are making, but I fail to see the change these policies promise to bring reflected into our society.
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