How did MeToo affect the way you were treated in the workplace?

13 comments

1. Around the time Me Too gained news attention my male supervisor (more a peer than manager) was very concerned and had a talk with me about if he’d ever made me uncomfortable or said anything inappropriate which I thought was very considerate (he had not). Might just be the places I’ve worked since but I have noticed that any male manager I’ve had has taken pains to only have 1-on-1 meetings in glass offices or with a door open. No contact outside work hours, no socializing with the underlings at all. Much prefer it to the alternative and hope female managers are following suit as any workplace that tended to have that dynamic was very toxic anyway in my experience.

2. I wasn’t in the workplace during the hay day of MeToo, but I remember in school girls would be getting teased about being fragile and dramatic. Students, parents, and teachers would complain that boys were bullied, beat-up/assaulted more than girls were.

3. A decade or so ago, the dominant place I felt uncomfortable around men was in the workplace. Over the last few years, I’ve noticed a dramatic decrease in comments from men (both directly at me and smutty talk in my presence), men invading my personal space, men commenting on how I look (which was creepy the majority of the time), etc.

   I was saying to my husband recently that I wondered if it was MeToo or just that I’m not young and bothered about my appearance anymore (so less makeup and curated outfits etc.).

   Curious to see what others say.

4. It didn’t. At all.

5. For me it changed everything. People touched me less, used fewer derogatory terms, less yelling. My agents were much more aware of the environment on set. Less overt sexism. Commercial actor/ precision driver.

6. It didn’t really change anything, men were still inappropriate at work, they only started complaining about not being able to be inappropriate with women while still doing it.

7. Men seem to be slightly more careful now about making comments that could be construed as sexual harassment, which is a good thing, but they also seem to feel more angry and entitled as a result, which is a bad thing.

8. Not at all. I’m calling HR was added as a common ending to sexist jokes in the workplace but that’s it. I work with outdoorsy and athletic people. MeToo was purely a Hollywood movement around here.

9. It didn’t change it at all, apart from one older gentlemen who apologised for calling me ‘love’. I work in Yorkshire, everyone calls me love, male and female, so I told him I really didn’t mind that he did that.

10. It didn’t at all. In 2020 or so, sexual harassment got added to the Canada Labour Code, so it can be treated as an OHS violation, and I got a lot of training relating to that. The Me Too movement might have been a factor in getting that change made, though I’m not entirely sure that it’s a good change. If anything, that change takes the emphasis away from justice for the victim. Jury’s still out on whether it will reduce the incidence of workplace harassment.

11. It happened while I was in the military and some lovely colleagues went behind my back and made up a complete untrue story about me being a sexual harasser. It went up the chain of command and it happened while I was on a career course. It caused me so much stress and pain, I had no allies, nobody’s to talk to except the padre (who’s more of a social worker than a qualified therapist). Gladly these idiots couldn’t even get their lies straight and the « charges » were dropped but it nearly ruined my life. I love how some member of the military interpreted MeToo as a way to equally charge women when they didn’t like them or whatever. I’ll never why this happened but I’m pretty sure these little fuckers were acting insecure af.

12. I work in a woman-dominated field, so it didn’t really change. All of my coworkers are women which is nice, so I don’t have to worry about sh/sa in the workplace.

13. I haven’t been sexually harassed in 3 years.