ghostjmf wrote:If I walk up to a friend, or a stranger on the street for that matter, & say "I'm looking for a pregnancy surrogate", or even just "let's discuss my need for a pregnancy surrogate", that's far, far different from having the conversation with a workplace subordinate, a tenant, a student or anyone else I have power over.
Its the power-relationship that makes it a threat, not just a discussion.
The only thing we have to go on right now is Frank's self-serving statement of resignation. As near as I can tell, this came out of the blue. But then again, most allegations of sexual misconduct come out of the blue since those in the know in politics, the film industry, journalism, and other fields have tended to keep quiet. Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weistein's predations were apparently common knowledge in the film industry (Gabriel Byrne said they had to shut down shooting on
The Usual Suspects 20 years ago because of some of Spacey's antics), but no one said anything until the dam broke.
There's a pattern in businesses of all types to keep these claims quiet, settle things confidentially and get non-disclosure statements from the complainants. The women who accused Frank haven't made their complaints public, nor has anyone else... yet. So we have no one's version of what went on other than Frank's This isn't a matter of he said, she said. It's a matter of he described what she said and we haven't heard from her yet. Some men like to talk about sexual matters around women precisely because they know it makes the women uncomfortable. This is one step removed from Louie C.K. showing off his anatomy. Instead, Frank talks about his (perhaps indirectly) with women who work for him and don't want to hear about it. And keep in mind that's according to Frank's prepared statement version, which we have to assume was crafted to cast him in the most favorable light possible.