美国国家公共电台 NPR Anita Hill: 'We've Come A Long Way Since Then'

Anita Hill: 'We've Come A Long Way Since Then'

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

It's been submerged beneath the presidential campaign news, but we may be having a national moment about sexual harassment¹. Roger Ailes lost his job this summer as head a Fox News.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

It happened after a former anchor sued over alleged² harassment. Numerous other women then made their own allegations, dating back decades. Ailes' departure comes after long-running allegations against Bill Cosby finally captured attention, as did complaints of harassment in colleges.

INSKEEP: Now, the point here is not to assign guilt³ in any particular case. Ailes, for the record, has denied wrongdoing at Fox. The point is that women are at last gaining more attention when making complaints that were once dismissed. You hear a difference if you go back to 1991, which is when Anita Hill made public claims against a former colleague, Supreme⁴ Court nominee⁵ Clarence Thomas.

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ANITA HILL: After approximately three months of working there, he asked me to go out socially with him. What happened next and telling the world about it are the two most difficult things - experiences of my life.

INSKEEP: Clarence Thomas denied wrongdoing, accused his critics of a high-tech⁷ lynching and made it to the court. Anita Hill says she was ostracized⁸. She is, today, a professor at Brandeis University, where she joined us to talk about the past quarter-century of sexual harassment claims.

HILL: We've come a long way since then. It is now part of the public conversation. Many workplaces have rules against it. Certainly there have been some very well-known cases that have been brought in court. And in many of those instances, women have prevailed. But even among women who seem very powerful in their jobs and in the public eye, these problems exist, and they don't come forward necessarily.

INSKEEP: What do you mean when you say it's part of the public conversation?

HILL: In 1991, people started talking publicly about it. Women, as well as men, started talking about what they had experienced in the workplace, what they had witnessed in the workplace. And I think it changed the public perception of women who had been brave enough to step up and come forward. And it exposed a lot of the ways of trashing women that are routinely done when women do come forward.

INSKEEP: Both the Bill Cosby story and the Roger Ailes story - and I'm not saying in any way that they're exactly the same - share some of the same elements. You have a workplace situation. You have ambitious people. You have a powerful man accused of taking advantage of far, far, far less powerful women. What do you think those stories have done to change people's consciousness about this?

HILL: I think it makes clear that even though the men are more powerful, that even women who are perceived to have some power have trouble coming forward. But I also think that it makes people aware that how, in these situations where there is extreme hierarchy⁹ and you have an individual who is well-regarded on many levels, that it is very difficult for women to come forward because, in many ways, they don't have anyone to report to who can actually do anything about it, who can change the behavior of this powerful person.

INSKEEP: What do you mean by extreme hierarchy? Every company has a boss, but you seem to be talking about a specific kind of company.

HILL: Well, I'm talking about companies where you do have this fairly iconic figure and employees are prohibited from stepping outside of the chain of command to even talk to people who are above them in rank.

INSKEEP: You know, I'm thinking about the different kinds of allegations that have surfaced here and in other cases, for that matter. Does that make any difference to you?

HILL: Well, every case has to be judged on its own, but the law gives you some standards. And you can either have the sexual extortion, which is the quid pro⁶ quo, or you can have harassment that is - does not require sex, but creates an environment that is hostile and ongoing¹⁰. So the question isn't whether it's one kind or another, but the question is whether it is severe and pervasive¹¹.

INSKEEP: What would you have employers do about this issue that they're not doing?

HILL: Well, one thing I would have the Fox News Network do is to take back the $40 million that reportedly Roger Ailes has received.

INSKEEP: Oh, and we should mention that is what has been reported, anyway, to be a severance¹² payment of sorts as Ailes was shown the door.

HILL: Well, it seems to me that that sends a very bad signal. And, in fact, if the allegations are proven to be true, then certainly not only has he violated the law, but I would also say that he has actually injured the company in a way that would keep him from being entitled to a severance pay.

INSKEEP: Anita Hill, thanks very much.

HILL: Thank you. You know, I would just add that, when we look at this moment in time, one of the things that we need to understand is that whether this, in fact, moves us any further depends on a number of factors. One of the factors is, how do victims relate to the examples of women coming forward? How do they feel they're going to be evaluated or the truthfulness¹³ of their allegations? We also need to look at how different women are evaluated. It may be women who are evaluated differently because of their race or religion, status in the workplace. There are a whole lot of things that go into the mix. But one thing that I am very sure of is, if we look at 1991 and think about what happened, even though from the outside observer it seemed that, in fact, I'd lost, I was treated very badly, women continue to come forward. And they came forward in record numbers. And that, I believe, is a good sign.

INSKEEP: Well, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with us.

HILL: Thank you.

INSKEEP: Anita Hill is now a professor at Brandeis University. She joined us to talk about sexual harassment.

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

3 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

4 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

5 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

6 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

7 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

8 ostracized   

v.放逐( ostracize的过去式和过去分词 )；流放；摈弃；排斥

参考例句：

• He was ostracized by his colleagues for refusing to support the strike. 他因拒绝支持罢工而受到同事的排斥。
• The family were ostracized by the neighborhood. 邻居们都不理睬那一家人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

12 severance   

n.离职金；切断

参考例句：

• Those laid off received their regular checks,plus vacation and severance pay.那些被裁的人都收到他们应得的薪金，再加上假期和解职的酬金。Kirchofer was terminated,effective immediately--without severance or warning.科奇弗被解雇了，立刻生效--而且没有辞退费或者警告。

13 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。