When hurricane Harvey made landfall along the coast of Texas at the end of August, it left devastation in its wake. Less than six weeks later, a devastating storm of a different kind broke over Hollywood.
The New York Times and the New Yorker published distressing reports about women who allege that they were subjected to demeaning sexual advances and in three cases even alleged rape at the hands of media giant Harvey Weinstein.
Ostensibly, the lives of many women have been devastated and changed forever by what can only be described as the sexual predatory behaviour of the movie mogul who gave us memorable movies such as Shakespeare in Love, Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 and The King's Speech. Weinstein, an entertainment power-house who also produced successful projects for television and on Broadway, has been exposed as nothing more than a sexual predator with loads of money and an impressive Rolodex.
The constant flow of revelations from women, including A-list actresses, who allege having in the past been subjected to degrading and truly nauseating unwanted sexual advances has led to Weinstein's expulsion from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at whose award ceremonies Harvey Weinstein was probably thanked more often than God.
Known for his no holds barred approach to business, Harvey Weinstein has made millions of dollars for the production and distribution companies, Weinstein Company and Miramax, which he co-founded with his brother. What makes the revelations of the disgraced producer, who is now said to be in therapy somewhere, so devastating is that Harvey Weinstein's appetite for young and beautiful women seemed to have been an open secret in Hollywood and the entertainment industry for decades.
He (Weinstein) used his position and power to inappropriately proposition young women who were hoping to break into the world of show business. The imbalance of power made women, desperate to realise their dreams, fall prey to a maniacal entertainment mogul for decades and this was made possible by a culture of silence and cowardice that seem prevalent in the entertainment industry.
The power that men get from their positions of authority, serves as an aphrodisiac for those who are insecure and self-loathing; leading them to charm, chase and conquer as many women as possible.
The obsequiousness said to be present in Hollywood enabled a sexual bully and left vulnerable young women to either like it or lump it.
Of course, it is possible that there were women who used Weinstein's lack of sexual self-control to their advantage, but clearly, these women are not among the more than thirty who accused Weinstein of making unwanted sexual advances. The problem arises when sexual advances are unsolicited and unwanted in a situation of extreme power inequality.
In 2017, we have seen a number of influential men in the US, among them the 1980s icon Bill Cosby, exposed as sexual predators and it is remarkable how brazen and without consequences these men were allowed to operate. Their ability to pay settlements, the threat or use of legal action and the threat of destroying livelihoods and careers, resulted in these men acting with impunity for years.
In South Africa, we are not immune to the boorish behaviour of men who are in positions of power. Redi Tlhabi, the author of a book on the life of Fezekile "Kwezi" Kuzwayo, the woman who courageously accused one of the most powerful men in South African politics, Jacob Zuma of rape, says that as South Africans we must reflect more on our gender power relations. I believe she is right.
The power that men get from their positions of authority, serves as an aphrodisiac for those who are insecure and self-loathing; leading them to charm, chase and conquer as many women as possible.
Jacob Zuma, who was acquitted of rape in 2006, has subsequently proven not to be a man who values and respects women. The number of wives President Zuma needs in order to feel like a man, the tongue-down-her-throat-revelation of an unknown journalist made in Tlhabi's book and the explosive accusations made against the president by Vytjie Mentor clearly show that South Africa's president is not averse to displaying his sexual prowess and hold over women.
In South Africa, it seems that when women accuse powerful men of inappropriate sexual behaviour, be it Zuma or Fransman, it makes the headlines but remain without consequences.
Erstwhile ANC Western Cape chairperson, Marius Fransman, had sexual harassment charges dropped in 2016; however, the ANC's integrity commission later found that the allegations were likely true.
From the recent cases of sexual predatory behaviour in the US, it is clear that there are a number of factors that exist which allow influential sexual predators to remain unexposed for a long time. The first is that victims remain quiet: in many cases, those who were subjected to unwanted sexual advances remained quiet out of fear of retribution, while others accepted financial settlements to remain quiet.
The second and more damaging is that people who surrounded the perpetrators simply looked the other way and failed to confront them. Even media outlets did not publish accusations of sexual harassment, because of the fear of legal action thus extending the reign of terror of influential sexual predators.
In South Africa, it seems that when women accuse powerful men of inappropriate sexual behaviour, be it Zuma or Fransman, it makes the headlines but remain without consequences.
Our lack of sustained outrage and inability to hold powerful men accountable make us, as a society, enablers of the powerful and the influential who sexually harass, disrespect and demean women in order to feel good about themselves.