74-year-old man slammed for saying 'scantily clad' women can cause sexual misconduct
A male resident in Long Island, New York is suggesting a dress code for women who work for the town government, saying that “inappropriate dress can cause” misconduct.
During a Riverhead Town Board meeting on Oct. 16, which was set to address a proposed policy against seχual harassment in the workplace, a resident named Sal Mastropaolo, 74, presented an amendment regarding the way that women dress.
According to the Riverhead Local, Mastropaolo stood up to address the council and say that he had read the proposal in detail and saw the need for a necessary change.
“I feel that inappropriate dress constitutes seχual harassment, and I think that needs to be put in here,” he said. “Somebody coming in inappropriately dressed constitutes seχual harassment.”
Mastropaolo went on to reference the models from The Price is Right and Let’s Make a Deal as examples of “scantily clad” women, before Deputy Supervisor Tim Hubbard jumped in to say, “But that’s no reason for somebody to seχually abuse them.”
Coucilwoman Jodi Giglio, however, didn’t necessarily agree.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Giglio said of a dress code, “like the school district has rules about midriffs and too-short skirts.”
Members of the Town Council didn’t immediately reply to Yahoo Lifestyle’s request for comment. But, Councilwoman Catherine Kent offered information about the current dress code during the meeting, and said that it’s never been an issue.
“It’s a little offensive to say that seχual harassment happens because someone was scantily dressed,” Kent said. “That’s called blaming the victim.”
The seχual harassment policy was ultimately adopted following a unanimous vote, without Mastropaolo’s adaptation. In fact, another resident followed his plea with a strong argument against it.
“I don’t think a woman should be required to wear a bra if she chooses not to wear a bra to work,” resident Ellen Hoil refuted. “I don’t think [dress] should be dictated other than what is expected in the conduct of their business in a professional manner.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
? College student dress coded at gym for ‘distracting’ crop top
? High school assistant principal says ‘blame the girls’ for dress-code violations: ‘They pretty much ruin everything’
? Teen suspended for wearing ripped jeans at school — and her mom is fuming at the ‘seχist’ reason
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