Before Ohio moves on from the Marc Dann scandal, we should all reflect on one lesson it taught us: While Dann is certainly a creep, the woman he had an adulterous affair with is just as certainly not a victim.
Of course, that isn’t how the usual cast of feminists and sexual-harassment racketeers see it. Shortly after the scandal broke, Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz weighed in with a column titled “There’s No Equal Footing in Sex with the Boss.” As she wrote, “Jessica Utovich is virtually half Dann’s age, has a smidgen of his higher education, earned about a third of his income and was employed at his mercy.” This was supposed to explain why Utovich was incapable of rejecting Dann’s sexual advances.
No one has disputed that Utovich’s affair with Dann was consensual. Nor is she a child who was being exploited by an older man. She is a 28-year-old adult who had a job in the Ohio Attorney General’s office. And yet, because of a “lack of parity” with Dann (as Schultz put it), she is now being portrayed as his victim.
This is the catch-22 that feminists — at least the ones who complain endlessly about “sexual harassment” — have created for young, working women. On one hand, they argue that women are just as smart, capable and professional as men, and therefore deserve equal career opportunities. On the other hand, they tell us that women are so easily manipulated by men that they can’t be expected to say “no” to sex with their male bosses.
This excuse is offered even when there is no evidence that the woman was coerced or threatened with the loss of her job if she said no. Does anyone remember the Kelly Flinn debacle? In 1997, Kelly Flinn became the first female B-52 bomber pilot in the U.S. Air Force. At first, she was rightfully celebrated as a role model for other women. But then she blew it by sleeping with a married comrade — a clear violation of the Air Force’s prohibitions on adultery and fraternization (in other words, having sex with another enlisted person).
Naturally, feminist groups and the media treated Flinn like a victim, saying she had been “singled out” — even though she was subjected to the same set of rules as her male comrades, including the man she was sleeping with. Pathetically, during an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Flinn played upon the stereotype of the weak woman, saying, “I was only 25 years old, and I was confused.”
The sexual harassment industry might accept emotional vulnerability as justification for a woman’s dishonorable conduct, but the same defense would never work for a man. In fact, men who are caught having affairs with subordinates are often fired — including Dann, who was forced by his own party to resign last week.
In her column, Schultz noted that incidents like the Dann scandal will hurt young women in the workplace, saying that “the ranks of bright, idealistic young women in that office are bound to thin.”
That statement is true, but not in the way she meant it. One year ago, when I was interviewing for an internship at the State Capitol in Texas, a male employee confessed that some offices were reluctant to hire women my age because “we don’t always trust them to act professionally.” I was insulted — but looking back, I’m not sure I can blame him. He’s probably worked with women like Utovich, who voluntarily violate workplace rules, then blame the “unequal power structure” for their bad behavior and turn to sexual-harassment lawyers to file a lawsuit.
If gender equality on the job is really what we want, we can’t excuse the behavior of adult women who willingly engage in sex with their coworkers or married bosses, in clear violation of workplace rules. Men like Marc Dann are held responsible for their actions. Let’s hold women like Jessica Utovich responsible for theirs.
Ashley Herzog is a senior journalism major. Send her an e-mail at ah103304@ohiou.edu.
Reader Comments
While I'm sure some women are easily manipulated and really are confused, they are the exception to the rule. Give women a little more credit, they know exactly what they're doing. Excellent column, Herzog!
Agreed. I'm really surprised that people like Dann think anyone can get away with this crap anymore. You'd think after Clinton and McGreevey and Craig that guys like Dann would wise up and stop pursuing their interns. Why do these women (or men in two of the cases above) keep going for these old guys too? I mean seriously I think they go with the whole powerless excuse so they don't look even grosser for getting down with dudes twice their age.
The thing I'm actually shocked about most in this column is that we were still flying B-52's in 1997... that plane was designed for WWII...
xfactor--
When I lived in the Youngstown area, Dann was a partner and owner of a very powerful legal firm. It was no secret to anyone that the man was connected, and likely still is.
And I always thought the B-52 was an outdated clunker. Of course, that was until I saw one in person -- those things are monstrous.
Well said.
Actually Kevin, I saw first hand what power does to someone yesterday while covering a track meet. Surprisingly enough, if you give a guy a walkie-talkie and a flag, he thinks he is God and can therefore be an asshole to any reporter or photographer who may doing their job nearby.
Put the lives and futures of millions of people in a man's hands and well, I guess he would think he can get away with anything.
Is the pressure of sleeping with a very powerful person (screw him being a man) not enough coercion to have sex with someone when you really don't want to?
"Dann was a partner and owner of a very powerful legal firm. It was no secret to anyone that the man was connected, and likely still is."
Does a person have to say "no" before it counts as rape? Is status not domineering enough for people who know a person well enough to trust them, for them to believe that the person would have their best interest in mind, or to trust them? Certainly her job would have been extremely uncomfortable after declining this "powerful person's" advances, if she wasn't fired immediately. The likelihood of her finding another job in the same industry or neighborhood, being this person has so much power and connections, is slim to none. I truly feel that if this woman came on to him, and he was having a long-term, emotional and physical relationship with him, maybe this article would be more relevant, but too quickly does the mass public jump on the victim and start to blame THEM (whoever they may be) for what they could have done DIFFERENTLY. Do you think he will have a hard time finding a new job? Probably not. He's connected. She will be the one who suffers the longest, gets the most blame flung her way (like YOU are doing; do you NOT love you fellow sex at ALL?) and will be the one whose reputation is tarnished the most. Do you realize how little blame (or attention) you placed on the MALE in this situation? Either split the blame down the MIDDLE, or write as a journalist! OBJECTIVELY.
Feces. Pure feces.
Another idiot attempting a critique of my column. "Do you NOT love your fellow sex at ALL?" No, actually I don't, any more than I love the opposite sex. Why should I be required to "love" all women? I really tried to read a deeper meaning into that statement, but it was too stupid to contemplate.
Oh, and Marc Dann received none of the blame in this situation, as you claim? He was forced into a disgraceful resignation, and his professional reputation is ruined. He was held responsible. End of story.
"Is the pressure of sleeping with a very powerful person (screw him being a man) not enough coercion to have sex with someone when you really don't want to?"
Apparently not. I got the job I talked about in the column, and I was constantly approached by married politicians looking to bolster their egos by sleeping with a younger girl. I found that a dirty look or, at the very most, a bitchy "I'm not interested" was enough to send them packing. And I never got fired.
Of course, if I had no honor and was looking for money, I could have slept with the married State Reps and then filed a sexual harassment lawsuit.
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