Men and #Me Too

I read this article in the most widely read medical journal in the world this week, and could not help pen this down. The narrator is every woman in the workforce.

For years, I suffered with a face that was brave

My reputation, my sanity, my career- I had to save

All inappropriate comments, innuendoes, I took in my stride

Facing harassment, my true emotions I did hide

For the cost of speaking up was too high to ignore

It could have sent my career crashing to the floor..

In a world where women mentors were few

I sought mentorship where available, it’s true

I was driven by a desire for advancement in my career

Yet each step forward I took with fear…

**

Fast forward to the present, it is 2018

A new movement the world has now seen

With #Me Too, I have found the courage to break

The barriers of silence, not worrying what is at stake

The movement has made millions of women at the workplace

Feel empowered to address the harassment they face

**

Ah..I must be delusional if I think at the workplace men

Would suddenly change their behavior towards women-

In a patriarchal society, used to masculinistic hegemony

They have turned back on women with their misogyny…

Claiming that mentoring women is difficult in this climate

False allegations of sexual misconduct against them can be made!

**

Disheartening this is- mentorship is invaluable

This reluctance of male mentors can cause harm incalculable

To the careers of young women with grit and ambition

The last thing we want is to see an attrition

In the numbers of women in the elite workforce

My sincere hope is that things will change their course

True gender equality is still years away

Yet with # Me Too, we have come a long way…