In order to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, tech giants Facebook and Google have adopted a “Lose Yourself” approach to asking out co-workers — in the words of noted feminist Eminem, “You only get one shot.” Per the Wall Street Journal:
One rule at Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google: Employees are only allowed to ask a co-worker out once. If they are turned down, they don’t get to ask again. Ambiguous answers such as “I’m busy” or “I can’t that night,” count as a “no,” said Heidi Swartz, Facebook’s global head of employment law.
While Silicon Valley is not exactly known as a bastion of gender equality, this seems like a reasonably approach to workplace romance. Hopefully, policies like this will provide much-needed clarity for men who feel confused about how to behave in the post-Weinstein era. And for those still struggling with whether the whole “should I expose my genitals to my colleagues or not?” question, here’s a handy guidebook.
