Modern day misogyny is very real. I’ve experienced it, many of my friends and family have experienced it and women around the world experience it every day. Misogyny is a word many people are uncomfortable saying, because of the harsh meaning behind it. No one wants to think that women still get treated unfairly; that would require men to stand up to other powerful men. As of recently, some of the most powerful men in TV have been accused of sexual harassment, including Bill Cosby and Roger Ailes. In both instances it seems the wealthy and powerful are able to get away with anything.
Roger Ailes — age 76 — the CEO of the highest rated cable news network “Fox News,” was recently forced to resign due to allegations of sexual harassment from at least two dozen women. It all came to light when Gretchen Carlson, known for being an anchor on Fox’s “Fox and Friends” segment, came forward with a law suit against the TV millionaire. After the lawsuit, 20 more women came forward with similar complaints. More and more stories became public as the controversy grew.
Women reported that Ailes would “ask for sexual favors in exchange for job opportunities,” and according to New York Magazine, told multiple women they needed to do sexual favors for him and whoever he told them to in order to “make it in this business.”
Carlson, a Stanford and Oxford educated former Miss USA, started her complaints in 2009 to Ailes that her co-host was being condescending to her on and off camera. Ailes told her she was “being a man hater” and needed to get over herself. From that point on Carlson diminished in her role on “Fox and Friends” and moved to a lower slot at 2 p.m.
Carlson decided she wouldn’t let Ailes get away with his harassment. In 2014, she started taking her phone into one-on-one meetings with Ailes. She recorded their conversations for over a year. One of Ailes’ statements to Carlson included, “I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago, and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better. Sometimes problems are easier to solve [that way].” He said in another conversation, “I’m sure you can do sweet nothings when you want to.”
Women ranging in age from 16 up came forward with their stories publicly and anonymously telling of specific encounters with Ailes. “You know if you want to play with the big boys, you have to lay with the big boys,” he was accused of saying. After refusing his advances, one woman could not get a job in television because, “word went out you weren’t to be hired,” a friend in the business told her.
You would think after so many women told their stories of sexual harassment, from models to one of the most respected women on television, Megyn Kelly, there would be a very harsh punishment. But, after harassing women for over 25 years, Ailes received 40 million dollars from a contract buyout by Fox, and was allowed to stay on as an “advisor” for the network. Ailes released a statement saying nothing of the harassment and even professing his anti-misogynist ways. “I take particular pride in the role that I have played advancing the careers of the many women I have promoted to executive and on-air positions,” he wrote.
This story is one of the most disturbing I have ever researched and written about. I could not believe how many reports of harassment took place against Ailes over his 25-year career. Not only that, but how zero punishment took place, and he was rewarded 40 million dollars for what he did. When people, mostly men, say sexism and misogyny aren’t real in the modern age, I want to tell them to wake up. This is not only still a huge issue, but also one that is likely to be swept under the rug. Women have come a long way, but the abuse of power from men in higher roles than women happens more frequently than many let themselves acknowledge. Powerful men get away with abuse of power in many ways, and stories like this prove it.
Photo by Drew Angerer, Getty Images: Roger Ailes and Wife Elizabeth Ailes, after allegations came forward.