Two weeks ago, I wrote a column about Herman Cain. My point was simple: Cain is not really a viable contender. We all know it, and humoring another GOP sideshow is just allowing for more eccentric antics that distract from what should be a serious discussion about the person who will likely become the next president of the U.S.
Shortly after it was published, news broke about Cain's history of sexual harassment. Despite his denials, it surfaced that multiple women filed complaints against him, and that out-of-court cash settlements had been used to shove the whole thing under the rug. He didn't handle reporters' questions about the topic very well. I was positive this revelation would prove my article right, destroy Cain's campaign and ultimately lead to Mitt Romney's breakaway success for the remainder of the race.
But that didn't happen. Cain's poll numbers are as strong as ever. Aggressive retorts didn't hurt his image, and vague accusations didn't hurt his chances. Even a little ridiculous gospel singing has had no effect. I still don't think there's any chance Cain will become the Republican nominee for president, but he's not going away just yet.
Why? Because nobody seems to care that he harassed his female employees. Republican voters don't take it seriously. And while part of that is due to rampant Tea Party fervor and zealous Koch funding, I think there's something even more sinister at work than normal politics.
The bigger problem is that we live in a culture where sexual harassment isn't taken seriously. For all of the legal hurdles a corporation has to jump in order to avoid lawsuits against their male employees, some Republicans see it differently. When it comes down to what's talked about at the dinner table, litigants in these sorts of situations are the greedy liars looking to turn a buck off of some innocent comments about their bust size.
And conservatives everywhere are jumping at the opportunity to use that common thought process to defend Cain.
As talk radio host Laura Ingraham says, "We have seen this movie before, and we know how it ends. It always ends up being an employee who can't perform or who underperforms and is looking for a little green."
Sure. That's the explanation. Never mind the fact that proving a hostile work environment in court is much tougher than people like Ingraham would have you believe. Never mind the fact that most sexual harassment allegations are thrown out by judges during summary judgment. Never mind the fact that we don't know anything at all about what happened between Cain and those women. Even with nothing to go on, we can always turn to the common knowledge that women who sue for sexual harassment complaints are just lazy workers looking for their day in court.
This isn't just about Cain. This is about gender in America. This is about almost half of our middle- and high-school age children experiencing sexual harassment in the last year, and this is about people reacting to the studies that prove those numbers by claiming it's just another attempt to wage war against free speech.
This is about sexual stereotypes that won't go away. This is about a society that somehow believes we've moved on from sexual harassment, that sexism no longer exists and that frivolous suits are a diabolical scheme by the duplicitous feminist agenda.
Sexism is alive and well in America, and pretending it's not doesn't make it go away. Doing so only strengthens it, allows it to thrive and allows men like Cain to continue to strive for our most heralded government position.
Maybe suing because of Ladies' Nights is a bit ridiculous. I'm open to debate on that. But the last thing we should be doing is pretending cases like those define the gender battle that's ongoing in our country.
Sexual harassment is real, and it matters.
Alex Guilmartin is a psychology and pre-law senior at UF. His column appears on Thursdays.
