I am anything but a fan of New York’s Governor Andy Cuomo, but this story is a classic of hit and run feminism: “Former aide Lindsey Boylan alleges Cuomo ‘sexually harassed’ her about looks.”
A former aide to Gov. Cuomo now running for Manhattan borough president alleged Sunday morning on Twitter that her ex-boss “sexually harassed” her for her “looks” — but refused to share any more information.
“Yes, @NYGovCuomo sexually harassed me for years. Many saw it, and watched,” wrote Lindsey Boylan on the platform. “I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks. Or would it be both in the same conversation? This was the way for years.”
Boylan last worked for Cuomo in 2018, and she says the alleged sexual harassment went on “for years.” So why didn’t she mention it until now? Boylan says she is “about validating the experience of countless women and making sure abuse stops.” But if her claims were true, and her concern was “making sure abuse stops,” why didn’t she say something three or four years ago when it might have done some good?
Lindsey Boylan also refuses to talk to journalists or to explain what, exactly, Cuomo did that constitutes sexual harassment. It apparently lies in the zone of commenting on her looks. (Boylan is, in fact, pretty. So sue me!) If the worst Cuomo did was to say “Hey Lindsey, you look great!” it wasn’t in keeping with 21st Century office practices, but it would fall squarely in the category of first world problems. And if Boylan seriously minded, she shouldn’t have waited for years to complain.
Waited, in fact, until she was running for Manhattan borough president. Call me cynical, but it looks as though Boylan is trying to a) get publicity, and b) align herself with the sort of feminism that is dominant in Manhattan by complaining about Cuomo years after the fact.
This is the kind of drive-by feminism to which no one should pay any attention. And after this post, I won’t.
