Versus

We are currently having a very sensitive issue of sexual harassment at work. I believe it has been going on for years, but none has been brave enough to step up and fight for her right, until a certain text message a few days ago triggered a momentous event that will forever be etched in the history of the company.

Being the slowest (and most forgetful) person when it comes to news and rumors, I wasn’t able to get the whole story (I am still manipulating one of my co-employees into telling me the whole incident), and I can only make my own conclusions based on few bits and pieces I hear from, well, almost everyone in the office.

After the text message was sent, the women started to make their own statements, putting into letter things they knew, things they saw and heard, and things they personally experienced with regards to the person in question. It was like a hushed chaos in the office. I see them whispering, I see them getting busy in front of their computers while thinking of things to write, I see them giving each other knowing glances, and I seem them looking at me, probably wondering whether I can be trusted and if I am on their side.

Putting the text message aside (though I am very curious as to who really sent the message), and as a woman myself, I do think that if they feel they are being sexually harassed, then they should speak up. They should not tolerate what is being done to them, regardless of who the perpetrator is. You can have anyone fired as long as you are able to prove that the person has done something foul and morally wrong to you. They have the right to do what they were doing.

But do I support them? Am I really on their side?

Again, I am a woman. Just like them. But they don’t see me writing down stories of how I was touched, of how I was held, or of how I was harassed in any strange way. And why? Because I never experienced any of it. The most notable difference between me and the other women in the office is that I do not entertain sexual advances by any men in general (the Ondoy incident is of different matter). And I do not encourage men to think I am someone whom they can lust over. You see, these women who came out of their shells are women who wear skimpy clothing at work, who wear mini-mini skirts, plunging neckline, spaghetti straps, and other sexy outfits that clearly show their curves. And they cannot deny that they [less than often, more than sometimes] use their sexuality to manipulate this said perpetrator to get what they want (from a simple free merienda or a Starbucks drink to much bigger requests). And now they are complaining of sexual harassment. Isn’t that unfair and kind of foul at the same time? I can’t help but see them as opportunists.

It is natural for men to admire and ogle and lust over women who are physically like-able. But there are men who have greater self control than others. This perpetrator is not. So if he is not, the more reason women around him should be careful and less inviting. These women are not.

It also happened that the ring leader of this fight-for-our-right movement is a mistress of a married guy who works in the same company. The vice leader is a person who's got a boyfriend but entertains other suitors at the same time. I can also say things about the other members. This is personal, of course, but they are not being professional either, so why not just talk about each other's flaws?

As was stated by another co-employee who is on neutral ground as I, “Wag nga silang magmalinis kung hindi naman talaga sila malinis. Wag silang magpaka-inosente kung sila rin may natatapakan.”

True.