Cowardly 'Pence Rule'

By Park Moo-jong

A Korean proverb says, "Are you going to avoid making soybean paste for fear of maggots?"

This familiar adage is based on a traditional Korean recipe when making soybean paste ("doenjang"): To keep the lid off the jar to help its contents ferment well in the sun. Alas, flies lay eggs there and maggots, sometimes, result

This rhetorical saying scolds people who don't do what they are supposed to do, being afraid of possible mistakes they may commit.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said in an article published in 2002 in the Hill, a daily newspaper covering the U.S. Congress and American politics in general, that he never eats alone with a woman other than his wife and that he won't attend events featuring alcohol without her by his side.

Thus, the "Mike Pence Rule" has come into being and it has quickly become the talk of town in the wake of the snowballing #MeToo campaign in this part of the world. This bizarre practice was, in fact, the invention of Billy Graham, an American evangelist who passed away last month.

The core of the practice is to avoid spending time alone with any woman to whom he is not married in order to avoid any situation that would have even the appearance of compromise or suspicion.

The situation here is serious. The whirlpool of the #MeToo campaign could backfire to damage women at workplaces across the nation with the Pence Rule spreading like wildfire to build a fence against women's social activities.

For reference, here is a recent U.S. survey conducted by Lean In and SurveyMonkey, founded by Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, which shows that that almost half of male managers in the United States are now uncomfortable participating in basic activities with women.

Senior men are 3.5 times more likely to hesitate to have a working dinner alone with a junior woman than with a junior man, and they're five times more likely to hesitate to travel for work alone with a woman, according to the survey.

Here in Korea, like an epidemic, many private and public workplaces are banning their male workers from having dinners and going on business trips with their female colleagues in the name of cutting off any potential sexual violence.

Even without formal direction from their bosses, lots of male workers are reluctant to contact their female co-workers fact-to-fact, "fearing" that they may be involved in sexual harassment or assault due to a counter-reaction.

For instance, a 31-year-old female worker with a five-year working career at a "good" company, complained, according to a news report: "I feel as if I am sitting on pins and needles. A few days ago, prior to a monthly dinner, my boss told women to go home and only men to get together."

She wants to get familiar with colleagues, either men or women, to increase work efficiency. However, she was banned from attending the dinner, regardless of her intention. She said she felt as if she was being treated as a criminal, even though she did nothing wrong.

Similar cases have been reported here, there and elsewhere.

The reason why men avoid women, abiding by the Pence Rule, is simple: To shut out any possibility of becoming a "sexual assailant." This is really a bizarre theory.

This implies that they regard women merely as potential objects of "lust" and frame relating with opposite sex with fear.

Such men also, without their knowing or maybe not intentionally, restrict chances for their female co-workers to network with them, to share ideas and advance in the organization, making the glass ceiling higher.

In a society tilting toward gender equality, women need to be given opportunities to bond with their male colleagues, bosses, friends so as to create sustainable and healthy relationships.

(Yet, it is crystal clear that the Republic of Korea has yet to achieve the equality of men and women in that it has the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family).

In the 21st century, there is not the slightest idea that women should or could be discriminated against by men. In fact, in many social spectrums of late, particularly in this country, women have appeared to be superior to men.

A healthy society will see men be around women in social settings, meetings and networking environments, helping create healthy workplaces featuring bonding and mutual respect.

The childish idea that men should no longer get together with women professionally or platonically at workplaces ― at meetings, coffee breaks and all interactions ― is a huge setback for women.

The Pence Rule is not a right way to help prevent and counter sexual violence that takes place at places where men and women coexist, virtually in all locations. This rule is mostly likely to work as a fence against women and thus strip them of an opportunity for fair competition. How unrealistic it is to build a fence against women and live there.

Avoiding isn't everything. It's an act of cowardice. The fence may only deepen the rift between men and women. Constant conversations and communications about how to solve the problem will help find a solution.

Park Moo-jong is the standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English daily newspaper founded in 1950 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com