In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, and the resignation of Amazon Studio’s Chief Roy Price, as well as similar developments in Silicon Valley, senior political analyst Mark Halperin resigned from both NBC and MSNBC over his alleged sexual harassment of several women. At the National Center on Sexual Exploitation we are reiterating our call for real cultural change and a recognition by the media, our political leaders, and society at large, of the root causes of these men’s sense of sexual entitlement.
How many high profile cases of sexual harassment or abuse will come to light before our society starts questioning the root cause of many men’s widespread sense of sexual entitlement? The alleged sexual offenses committed by Harvey Weinstein, Roy Price, Mark Halperin and others just like them are not occurring in a vacuum. These events should springboard a robust cultural conversation about the factors driving these types of sexual abuses, which countless men in our nation have committed and countless women have suffered.
Hollywood and mainstream corporations bear weighty responsibility for creating a culture of sexual exploitation and perpetuating the idea that sexual assault and harassment are entertainment. HBO’s Game of Thrones, Westworld, and The Deuce have routinely normalized these abuses. Companies such as Comcast and Verizon sell hardcore pornography with racist, incest, and violent themes. Amazon too sells pornography.
The American public is demanding an end to sexual entitlement and harassment, but we cannot expect significant change if we continue to embrace the Hollywood and corporate culture that normalizes and promotes sexual exploitation.
HBO, Comcast, and Amazon are listed on NCOSE’s 2017 Dirty Dozen List, which names 12 mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation. Learn more at: DirtyDozenList.com.
