Albany politicians "window shopped" for interns
Philip Anderson at The Albany Project reports on this oh-so-charming piece of news:
Up until just a few years ago, lawmakers would go "window shopping" for interns at the start of every legislative session. In a practice that went on for decades, the interns would be corraled in a Capitol newsstand, and legislators would take their pick...."There was a lot of hitting on us and boundaries being crossed," said one young woman lobbyist who was part of that scene for years.
Corraled into a newsstand? Really? I'm with Digby on this one:
If politicians who corralled a bunch of women into a newsstand to be chosen for jobs in legislators' offices based on their sexual attractiveness to the disgusting pigs they were going to work for are still in office today, they should be exposed. That's not consensual behavior, that's sex discrimination. This practice apparently went on until 2004, and there's no excuse for it.
Indeed. And ugh.
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I'm going to link to this every time someone argues that Hillary is a bad model for feminists because she benefited from her husband's connections, rather than made her own way in politics, where she would OF COURSE have been judged on her merits alone.
In fairness to Albany, I write to say I was an Assembly intern back before the glaciers melted and nothing like this happened to me. When I told the college professor in charge of placements that I was interested in law, he placed me with the chair of the Judiciary committee, who also sat on Codes (i.e. criminal law). I got to draft legislation and help constituents. Got hit on a couple of times that semester, but only by people with no power over me. It was one of the best experiences of my life.
That's really gross! Old creepy politicians are, in my opinion one of the worst types of creeps one can be. But I have to admit, I laughed to myself to picture all of the male interns wondering why they never got the good internships. Or did they save the guys for the women politicians? j/k.
Unfortunately, Chef, there still aren't too many women in the NYS Legislature.
I was an intern in the NYS Assembly in 2004. A quick informal instant messenger poll of my female friends and colleagues from that year and earlier doesn't seem to corroborate the "corralled" into a news stand story. Interns were usually picked long before the legislators met them. However, there was definitely a culture of improper legislator/intern relations.
Every year I can remember there's been a complaint or two about sexual harassment or abuse, including a scandal involving a legislator's employee who was allegedly sexually assaulted by the Speaker's counsel (don't remember how that turned out legally). And there were always some particular legislators who were known to be involved with their interns.
Certainly not the best environment.
Chefmatt: silly! The male interns all get snapped up by the social conservatives, I'd imagine.
AAAAAGGGHHHHH!!! That makes me so mad! Treating women like cows at the state fair.
I want to kick all those guys in the sack.
...And some people look at me like I'm crazy when I say we should just bulldoze all government buildings and start over.