The Many Faces of Sexual Assault
It seems that every day brings about some new and horrific story of a famous beloved male celebrity engaging in sexual harassment. In fact, between when I started this article this morning and now, there has been a new allegation, Geraldo Rivera. This trend has spanned from the film industry to national politics, and has exposed wrong-doers on both sides of the aisle.
Obviously, this exposition is justice being served. For too long, powerful men (and regular men) have gotten away with sexual assault scot-free. Now, at long last, the chickens are coming home to roost. However, even as we bring these men to justice, it is important we do not paint them with a broad brush.
I want to make one thing abundantly clear: all of these men, provided the allegations are true, have committed grave offenses that cannot be brushed aside or forgotten. This is undeniable. What is also true is that each of these men has committed a different set of offenses, and handing down a blanket punishment for all of them would be wrong.
The first domino in this series was Harvey Weinstein. He was also arguably the biggest domino. His charges include serial rape, decades of harassment, and hiring henchmen to scare reporters and victims into submission.
Another contender for most sick and twisted would be GOP senate candidate Roy Moore, who engaged in sexual relationships with teenagers when he was in his 30s.
On the other end of the spectrum would be Louis CK and Matt Lauer. These men were accused of lighter sexual harassment, namely exposure and lewd comments. Clearly, these actions are still entirely unacceptable, but they are not on par with the atrocities of Harvey Weinstein or Roy Moore.
Somewhere between these two ends are Charlie Rose, Al Franken, and Kevin Spacey.
One of the problems in the national dialogue on sexual assault is that the term sexual assault is incredibly broad. On the lighter end of the spectrum would be something like indecent exposure or pinching someone’s behind. On the heavy end of the spectrum are rape, pedophilia, and involuntary sexual torture. Clearly, these are vastly different offenses, almost incomparable. But sexual assault covers all of them.
As our nation begins the long overdue task of bringing sexual assault firmly into the national dialogue, I think we’d better clarify our terms. Otherwise, the dialogue will remain clouded.
