Kirsten Powers

Donald Trump thinks it’s “very sad” that women at Fox News are “complaining” about being sexually harassed by former Fox chief Roger Ailes.

As allegations against his old friend piled up, Trump told NBC’s Chuck Todd on July 24 that, “Some of the women that are complaining, I know how much he's helped them…And when they write books….and say wonderful things about him….[N]ow, all of a sudden, they're saying these horrible things about him.”

Without passing judgment about the specific allegations, which are currently under investigation by 21st Century Fox, one should be able to accept that a woman could both have been promoted by a boss and harassed by him. Women are often forced to maintain good relations with men who abuse them precisely because those men have power.

When I mentioned this to Trump in a phone interview last Tuesday, he doubled down on his retrograde take. “There was quite a bit of fabulous things said [about Ailes by Gretchen Carlson],” he told me. “It would be easier for me and more politically correct for me to say you are right. But you would think she wouldn’t say those things.”

I pointed out that it wasn’t just Carlson who had made allegations. “I didn’t know it was more than just her,” Trump told me, even though his comments to Chuck Todd referred to women, plural.

What if someone had treated Ivanka in the way Ailes allegedly behaved?

His reply was startling, even by Trumpian standards. “I would like to think she would find another career or find another company if that was the case,” he said.

But most women don’t have the financial resources of Ivanka. They can’t afford to quit their job without another in hand, something that is impossible to do when you are under contract and forbidden to speak to competitors. Most importantly, why should a woman be expected to upend her career just because she ended up in the crosshairs of some harasser?

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Unfortunately, Trump isn’t the only one trafficking in outdated understanding of the dynamics of sexual harassment. Even smart women still seem confused about this topic.

Jane Hall, an American University journalism professor (whom I know and respect) wrote in The New York Times, “I suspect that there is a connection between the unspoken requirement for many women on Fox News, and elsewhere on television, to be leggy and beautiful and smart — and the bullying, misogynist political culture in which we find ourselves today.”

The New Yorker’s Margaret Talbot joined in the victim blaming, writing, “[T]he women at Fox News do make a particular bargain. In theory, of course, sexual harassers can be found in any workplace, but it’s easy to believe that they would flourish at a company where the fetishization of hot female news presenters is part of the business model.”

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Actually, it’s not a “theory” that sexual harassers are found in any work place. It’s a fact. I’ve been harassed or on the receiving end of sexist and inappropriate behavior almost every place I’ve ever worked. That includes on Democratic campaigns and as political appointee in the Clinton administration. It didn’t matter that in the latter case, I wore boxy Ann Taylor suits, sported no makeup and wore my hair pulled back in an unflattering ponytail. It turns out women’s attire doesn’t cause (or prevent) inappropriate behavior.

Moreover, “hot” and “beautiful” and “leggy” women don’t cause sexual harassment. Women of all kinds are victims of sexual harassment in every type of office environment. Sexual harassment — like rape — is about exerting power, not out-of-control male hormones.

Hall and Talbot also invoked “short skirts” in discussing the alleged harassment at Fox News. Sorry, but short skirts don’t cause sexual harassment any more than they cause rape (an old misogynist trope). In fact, Rudi Bakhtiar, who has alleged she was sexually harassed by a male superior while at Fox, says she only wore pants to work. This apparently provided no protection. Frankly, the idea that exposed legs are some sort of sexual provocation is an argument one would expect to hear from a religious fundamentalist, not a feminist.

All together now: Women don’t cause sexual harassment, harassers do.

Kirsten Powers, a paid political contributor to Fox News, writes often for USA TODAY and is author of The Silencing: How the Left is Killing Free Speech. Follow her on Twitter @KirstenPowers.

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