Viva logo

The Strange Career of Jill Crow — Part 3

The psychology of the mogul sexual harasser: What makes him tick?

By Tanya YoungPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
Like
All sexual abuser's victims are proxies for all the women and men who ever told them "no."

The entertainment industry is run on insecurity. Even at the highest echelons, moguls live by their latest box office receipts and the satisfaction of shareholders and board members.

The mogul is part of a small, influential club wherein the upside includes the money he receives and the power he has over workers. The downside? The peers, auditors, and critics that can torpedo a mogul's fate like asset-stripping jackals. Ostentation and horse-trading pricey favors is essential grease for the wheels of Hollywood commerce.

Nonetheless, a tsunami is sweeping over Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. Decades of bad behavior and thickly-staffed coverups have drained away, leaving each man publicly mired in infamy. But what drove each sex abuser through dozens of victims to their tawdry current fate?

1. Entitlement

In a damning audio recording captured by the NYC police during a sting operation, Weinstein insisted that Filipina-Italian model Ambra Battilana Gutierrez enter his hotel room, and admitted that he grabbed her breast the day before. Why? Weinstein explained: “I’m used to that.” The rules of the workplace or decency just don't (or shouldn't) apply to men at the top of the food chain.

2. Insecurity

At his core, the sexual harasser knows his success and status is an undeserved lucky fluke. He feels unworthy to his marrow. So unworthy that the mogul cannot feel worth unless they find someone vulnerable they can piss on. So they scan the office. They peruse the gutter, the unemployment line, and their call sheet.

The next step is setting up phony business meetings behind locked office doors, in hotels, in darkened hallways with potted plants. Another smooth perv move is to subject production assistants or young actors to lewd grabs and remarks. All to dangle the possibility of a job opportunity in exchange for a little somethin' somethin.'

3. Psychopathy

Many people in the media industry are psychopaths. The sexual harassers among them are forever pushing limits. Tragically, they hate people but fear being socially shunned by them. Therefore, their quest for success is marked by compulsive attention seeking, manufacturing chaos that only they can resolve and a shiny, happy persona that belies a far darker nature. Harassers rage frequently in public and private, brag about their power and control, and constantly compete. Truly, society incentivizes, empowers, and emboldens these psychopaths.

Calculatedly posing as philanthropists and community leaders of any historically oppressed group does wonders to create a sympathetic sob story that tricks empathic people into helping the psychopathic harasser. Thus, they dupe people into showing them respect and attention, thereby bulletproofing their public image.

Every social interaction is a competition for a psychopathic sexual predator. How many women or teens can he get his hands on? How desirable and high-status are his victims? Women and teens will be used and abused recklessly based on the predator's mood or need to feed their ego and public profile.

The psychopathic harasser delights in retraumatizing victims by denying the abuse, casually name-dropping his victims, inducing fear in victims, and provoking toxic shame.

We know from the denouement of the Weinstein and Spacey scandals that these harassers compulsively strived to enmesh with their prey and aggressively terrorized them for years. Decades of abuse were signposted by their vigorous denials and legal threats.

Since the shoes of evidence and testimony dropped, these sexual abusers' tune suddenly changed. Now the perpetrators claim to themselves be the victim of a witchhunt, shakedown and unfairness. Boo-hoo.

Self-absorbed moguls believe they are better than everybody but are constantly angry and fueled by emotions like rage, their own competitiveness with others, and jealousy. All this behavior circles back to their entitlement and insecurity.

***

There is no structure to validate sexual predation at work. Inasmuch as the sexual abusers are prolific in creating victims, all will lie to cover it up and protect their own interests and image. 'Til the bitter end.

For that reason, it’s important to reinforce empathy from employer to employee, to terminate the guilty and to empower workers to set healthy boundaries. Learning to not only spot the warning signs of a sexual predator but also to blow the whistle and support victims — this can end the dynamic of sexual harassment, right social injustice, and help evolve a better world.

pop culture
Like

About the Creator

Tanya Young

Third Wave Feminist, Peabody Award winner, Ms. Foundation delegate to the U.N. 4th World Conference on Women, DNCC Credentials Supervisor - foreign diplomatic corps, Board Member - Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Stonewall Democratic Club

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.