Sexual Harrassment: It Never Stops
Like many women, Anita Hill’s testimony about sexual harassment reminded of events I had forgotten. So I wrote an article in the magazine Tikkun in which I used no names except my own. I didn’t say what state this took place is, nor did I describe the academic disciplines that were involved.
What had happened was simple enough: A professor in one discipline, had repeatedly called me for dates and I had repeatedly explained that I was living with someone and had no interest in him. When it came time for the department to vote which students should be moved into the doctoral program, he voted against me. Department secretaries, who were also women’s liberation activists on campus were at the meeting, and told me what had happened. I didn’t care because I didn’t want to continue my education in that discipline. The Dean of the Graduate Division kindly transferred my fellowship which allowed me to finish my doctorate and I happily accepted a position at a research university.
After Anita Hill spoke, however, it occurred to me he could have derailed my career, had a I wanted to stay in his department. So I wrote this article, without naming the disciplines involved, his name, or even the state or university that was involved. At that time, in the early 1990’s, I felt it was issue, rather than naming names, that was important.
Guess what? After my article appeared only one male professor in the United States wrote to me and said that I had lied. Yes, there’s a certain bizarre quality to this story. I didn’t reply. A month later, he angrily wrote, “Professor Rosen, how dare you not reply to my letter. Again, I didn’t reply. A month later, yet another angry letter insisting that I had lied.
If it weren’t serious, it would be laughable. Only one man in the country wrote to tell that sexual harassment hadn’t taken place, even though I did not mention his name, his discipline or the field of study I had pursued.
This is nothing like what our President or the media moguls have done. But it does remind us that I was sexually harassed once, and then when I wrote about it, without naming names, he harassed me yet again.
Why don’t I mention his name now? Because it’s clear he wouldn’t learn, because there are bigger fish to fry, and he’s nearing death. Had I wanted to continue in his discipline, my career would have been derailed. That is the sobering thought. Let him go peacefully to his death. Others, I guarantee you, will not get to lead such an untroubled life.
Ruth Rosen is Professor Emerita of History at the University of the California, Davis, the author of The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America, The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution In America; and The Maimie Papers was also an award-winning journalist as a former op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.