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The Detroit News' deputy opinion editor boldly goes where few women dare to venture.
"There is a significant difference between rape and assault and a pat on the rear or a hand on a back," writes Ingrid Jacques in a sexual harassment column headlined "Ladies let's not take this too far."
She acknowledges serious misconduct by "some powerful men [who] have deservedly lost their jobs and their reputations" -- such as Harvey Weinstein and John Conyers.
Ingrid Jacques: "Not all of these accusations are equal . . . and they shouldn't be treated as such." (Facebook photo by Elizabeth Conley)
But the editorial writer waves a caution flag about distinguishing between power-abusing harassment or assault and relatively mild annoyances:
Not all of these accusations are equal, however, and they shouldn’t be treated as such. . . .
Women who don’t draw lines between such behavior are taking this moment of power too far.
For example, she writes, an unnamed "Detroit media personality has been accused of sexual harassment for 'poking' a female colleague on the shoulder."
The generally conservative writer, a 2002 Hillsdale College alumna, joined The News a year after earning a master's in journalism from Michigan State in 2009.
Friday's provocative, brave column starts with bemusement over "coming to the defense of Minnesota Sen. Al Franken," a liberal Democrat.
Franken, who announced Thursday he is resigning, shouldn’t have been forced out of his job over the sexual misconduct accusations that have been leveled against him in recent weeks. At least not like this. . . .
Franken said several of the incidents never happened, and others did not happen the way his accusers claim. The most serious charges . . . occurred years before Franken was elected.
