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It's okay for words to have wide and general meaning. Assault can mean flicking someone with your middle finger. It can mean saying something threatening. Sexua
by wfo 11y ago
It's okay for words to have wide and general meaning. Assault can mean flicking someone with your middle finger. It can mean saying something threatening. Sexual assault is a kind of assault. Barfights and brutally beating someone all count.
Similarly with sexual harassment. It doesn't mean exactly what you have in your head at this particular moment and nothing else no matter what anyone else says. Look it up if you care to and you'll find its definition is quite broad, especially the way it's used in general conversation. Nobody is suggesting locking people up in jail for saying bad words -- it's an absurd strawman, though it's quite an effective way to derail the conversation and avoid having a real discussion.
The article is about the climate of abuse and sexual harassment of women in astrophysics departments. Groping, specific comments, threats, general comments. Everything from flirtation to repeated unwanted advances to actual assault. That is what we are discussing, so when someone says women should go to the police to report the crimes described in the article you need to assume they are talking about the crimes described in the article.
- woodman 11y ago> Look it up if you care to and you'll find its definition is quite broad... I'd think that my awareness of the broad definition would be made clear by my repeated warnings that criminalization would narrow it. > Nobody is suggesting locking people up in jail for saying bad words... Well the poster that I initially replied to was pretty explicit about getting the police involved, as have a few other people here. So I'm not sure if your point is that I should be more charitable and assume that when someone says "sexual harassment" they don't mean sexual harassment, or if your point is that police should get involved but somehow leave the whole threat of violence thing at the door. > That is what we are discussing, so when... That isn't what I was discussing, and you replied to me, so you must be referring to yourself with the royal "we". I'll be more charitable and assume that people don't mean what they say, but I'd appreciate it if you'd extend me the same generosity and assume that I've chosen my words carefully.