Canada in Pop Culture

[bailey]

Thanks imeldamarcos, I am convinced that this is an HR issue, and as soon as the CBC knew the identity of that employee who did document the issue, that was what they needed to act.

Interesting that his PR firm, who supposedly crafted that Facebook post, have now dropped him. He's toast. Doesn't matter about assault charges, and I am pretty sure someone will come forward. He's unemployable because he doesn't know the boundary between workplace, public and personal life. The fact that he used promotional events like book signings to troll for victims/dates is reprehensible.

Edit to add: I just went to the second Star article, and it's clear that this is an HR issue for the CBC. They are investigating where that complaint went, the woman who quit her job, after she did report the incident but did not file a grievance. The rest of the women, that's a matter of public image and so on. All of the information should be assessed withing a discussion of rape culture. But the CBC HR issue is about workplace safety, and all he can do is file for wrongful dismissal.

[bailey]

Any comments? I don't have a really receptive peer group to discuss these issues with, the men I work with who are really great guys still don't understand the issue of consent. Or rather, they cannot comprehend that a man would do something that a woman might not want. They don't understand the power of relationships.

I see that Strombo has made a powerful statement. And I listened to the Canadaland podcast this morning where he said that the entire story was on hold, the Star wouldn't run it with only anonymous sources. And that Gomeshi panicked and went to the CBC, was fired and wrote his Facebook post. That was what the Star needed to run their story.

Very interesting details about how "everybody" knew about Jian, nobody did a fucking thing. that is reprehensible.

[chonies]

I'm kind of fascinated by the "can't consent to be assaulted" part of the law--my mind immediately went to the Armin Miewes case where Germany deliberated on whether someone could consent to be killed and/or eaten.

Thanks for telling the story about the Star needing something to tip their hand. I have a few more questions, but in the meantime, what's your general sense of the tone of the stories? Glee? Disappointment? Shock? Disgust?

[jmart]

I think that I have mostly read articles that are shocked and disgusted. I have noticed an increase in discussion about consent in the media and in my circle of friends.

Here is an article that I enjoyed and found that I (shamefully) related to it. I'm not even a fan of his and I feel disgusted that I even had a glimmer of sympathy for him in the early days.

I also found this article interesting.

[Margo]

I've been reading about this all weekend. Here's a story that hasn't been linked yet -- a woman who dated him for 5 months but didn't have sex with him recounts her experience.

[canuckcutie]

I believe 3 women have come forward to discuss their experiences with Jian to Toronto Police. One of them is Lucy, the actress from Trailer Park Boys who was interviewed by The Star and the other two complainants are anonymous. The Police have indicated that they will want to talk to Jian at some point. I'm guessing they'll want to get their hands on the video "evidence" that Jian showed the CBC thinking it would exonerate him.

[Deleted]

This Toronto Star story insinuates that the Toronto Police might already have the phone, it is CBC property, and I wonder if they kept it after the meeting where they fired Ghomeshi. Phone

I was wrong on the previous page where I said that Human Resources must have taken this very seriously and been behind his firing. Here's a podcast by Jesse Brown, one of the journalists writing the stories at the Star with Kevin Donovan, where he interviews a former Q show employee who saw Ghomeshi physically assaulting the woman who complained to her union rep, on yet another occasion that she forgot about. Canadaland He makes the case that the Human Resources Department is complicit in keeping lower-level employees in line, and that they would not necessarily take the most ethical approach when someone is making a complaint against a "star".

Despicably, the union, the Canadian Media Guild, is now claiming that they had no knowledge of the employee's original complaint. Brown says he has evidence from the woman that she did complain to them.

[bailey]

The evidence is piling up. Now people associated with journalism schools say that his behaviour toward interns meant that student were advised against seeking placements at Q. None of this is actionable, of course. The CBC has a lot of work to do on corporate culture.

I believe that the evidence he presented to the CBC to prove that there was consent will be enough to bring charges. I really doubt that he will be convicted, but it will open up discussion about the process for bringing assault charges to the police.

The discussion has to be continued, about the fact that women have a right to give consent, before and during sex. It's not just a matter of saying, well, she agreed, what was I to think.

The law about not being able to consent to assualt is very very interesting, and makes the BDSM community nervous.

[Mutagen]

Nov 3, 2014 15:10:14 GMT -4 bailey said:

I don't have a really receptive peer group to discuss these issues with, the men I work with who are really great guys still don't understand the issue of consent. Or rather, they cannot comprehend that a man would do something that a woman might not want. They don't understand the power of relationships.

That's really sad. With some guys though, I think it's not so much an issue of "can't" comprehend consent issues as "don't want to." I have to admit that I really lose patience sometimes. Straight people are capable of empathizing with gay rights. Non-Jews are capable of empathizing and condemning the Holocaust. Not everyone of course, but we rightly treat homophobes and Holocaust deniers as the maliciously willful ignorants that they are.  (Sorry if I'm going to Godwin's law territory here.)

So I really don't believe that men "can't" understand why harassment and non-consensual sex acts are bad, they choose not to because they don't want to deal with the implications where their own friends/relationships/etc. are concerned. 

Donal Logue initially tweeted support for Ghomeshi (I think a knee-jerk reaction after Ghomeshi's Facebook post) but soon after wrote a nice, thoughtful post taking it back and not making excuses. Which first of all, thank God, because my Donal Logue love can safely remain intact. But I think it also shows that guys ARE capable of getting it.

[MrsOldManBalls]

Nov 3, 2014 15:10:14 GMT -4 bailey said:

Very interesting details about how "everybody" knew about Jian, nobody did a fucking thing. that is reprehensible.

It makes me sad, afraid and really angry all at the same time.