"Does Philly’s tech scene have a sexual harassment problem?"
The article seems to have had precious little to say about sexual harassment or the role that it does or doesn't play in Philadelphia's technology scene. Let's just address things head on shall we?
Philly's tech scene absolutely has a sexual harassment problem. Why? Because Philly does, because tech in general does, because people do. No way around this fact of life.
There has been a great deal of press about the sexual harassment in tech in California and the Silicon Valley and while those places are not 100% representative of tech across the U.S.A. it would be disingenuous to think that problems there are not even a little bit reflective of possible, well hidden problems elsewhere, including HERE.
Privilege, Challenged
The news has been awash recently of commentary relating to race, nationality, skin color and most recently the events that occurred in Charlottesville, VA. I would observe that there is a common thread in them all - being a white person in the US confers a blindness on many that prevents them from seeing the benefits of their own privilege as a result of their background or skin color. The same is true for gender.
- Sexual harassment hasn't happened to me...so it must not be wide spread
- Sexual harassment must not be happening because I haven't seen it...so it must not be wide spread
- Sexual harassment happens in a small percentage of cases...so it must not be wide spread
I observe that sexual harassment happens all the time, however most of the time people are willing to look the other way, give the benefit of the doubt, or somehow explain away that thing that they actually saw occur because "reason". It hardly matters what the reason is. As a result of this we are collectively part of the problem that continues to compound. I want to encourage people to recognize the differences in their reactions as a result of privilege they may enjoy, to see and call people out for their harassing behavior.
Screaming, Fatigue
Like other forms of discrimination - sexual harassment is 100% real and it gets tiring pointing it out:
I admit that I don't know about my circle of friends’ and acquaintances’ experiences - because I haven't asked - however I would venture to say that the majority of my circle of friends have also had some form of harassment (from mild to outlandish) leveled against them. The article from Technically hurts efforts to raise visibility for harassment because, as one person I follow said:
"...this [article] does not help the lack of belief in the problem. 'Cause now people can share this [article] link & be all, "What? Nothing to see here."Take the time, read, open your eyes & mind
It takes diligence to acknowledge that there might be a gap in your knowledge, or a gap in your vision. The idea of modifying your default stance for a given situation likely needs to be actively (mentally) challenged in order to be able to see situations differently or to see situations are/were not what you assumed them to be. Time and effort has to be put in to understand others’ points of view, others’ feelings. Speak up, speak out at any an all opportunities that present themselves.
* Authors note: It is my intention to compile additional helpful reading links, things that I found helpful, that have opened my eyes or provided me insight into who I am. I'll try to post those in a day or two.
Examples:
https://technical.ly/philly/2017/09/18/amber-wanner-linkedin
https://technical.ly/philly/2017/09/05/sexual-harassment-problem/
