![]() I was uncomfortable and questioning my own notions of accountability almost immediately, which I think is the point. With How to Be Accountable, I was ready to watch someone else step into that arena, and the book did not let me down. This can feel inescapable and exhausting. While these vulnerabilities are necessary for progress, too often they are swiftly punished within the very conversations that require them. Talking about accountability, just like talking about privilege and other systems of power, requires stark honesty and the resilience to push through making mistakes. It’s a difficult, tricky subject, and I appreciate this book’s willingness to wade into the thick of it. They explicitly state their hope that people “cultivating personal development rather than sweeping cancelation” are the ones “who will change perception around this issue and shift the conversation about accountability from one of punishment and ostracism to an understanding that accountability is personal and that everyone makes mistakes from which they can learn and grow.” Harper establish early and often that a new paradigm is needed for conversations about accountability. But that SNL skit stuck with me because it felt so accurate to the grappling conversations I’d had with my own friends that week, and it came to mind again as I worked my way through How to Be Accountable, Microcosm’s latest contribution to the cultural toolkit of thinking about repairing harm in our relationships and our lives.Īuthors Joe Biel and Dr. If you were an alive and thinking person at the time, you might have an opinion on the matter–perhaps a very strongly held one–and I’m not here to convince you any which way about it. “Powerful men almost always abuse…NOPE!” one tries. They continue to hem and haw their way through the conversation. “While I applaud the movement,” another dinnergoer offers. “I think that some…women…” she continues, and her friend interjects, “Careful…” “I…think…” one woman says, while her husband admonishes, “Careful…” The SNL skit continues with the dinner guests haltingly offering their thoughts on the subject. Yet enough gray area around the details threw the discourse into a purgatory where no one knew how to talk about it or have the “right” opinion. It was clear that harm had been caused and that power dynamics were involved. The article described a hookup in which the woman who Ansari brought home felt unheard and violated. Then, an anonymous exposé of Aziz Ansari’s alleged misdeeds made a splash and muddied the waters. A waterfall of sexual misconduct revelations was steadily cascading from the upper echelons of Hollywood. The shushing husband pulls his turtleneck up to hide his face.Ī quick refresher on the cultural climate of January 2018: news coverage was full steam ahead on all things #MeToo. ![]() One woman raises her wine glass to her lips with a trembling hand. The music surges, and the six are thrown into dramatic lighting as the camera close pans across their distressed, panicking faces. ![]() “What article are you talking about?” their friend inquires. “Honey, no,” her husband says, suddenly alarmed. “Did any of you guys read that op-ed piece about…” ![]() “You know, speaking of the Times,” a woman at the table says. “The New York Times restaurant review raved about this place.” In January of 2018, Saturday Night Live released a comedy sketch titled “Dinner Discussion.” Three straight couples sit around a restaurant table (remember restaurants?), exclaiming over the food’s deliciousness. Microcosm intern Molly Simas wrote this review of our new book, How to Be Accountable by Joe Biel & Dr. How to Be Accountable: a Book Review Februby Molly Simas
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