Seems like a tough problem (if you consider it a problem). The unfortunate reality of a power-imbalance is that those who are giving out their expertise expect something in return (ROI, promotion, attention/validation, sex).<p>I don't think what this guy did was even slightly morally wrong, but I would say it sounds unprofessional trying to milk your social status and social capital for physical affection.<p>But then again, so is hopping to the press because you found 1 sleazy man out there and trying to milk the cultural moment for a few views. (not that one cancels the other)
Here's the thing: for men being decent requires effort - especially online where the risk/reward ration of being a douchebag seems so tantalizingly < 1. That's obviously changing because doing stuff like this outside the confines of dating sites is becoming much riskier. IMO that's a good thing.<p>I think men will always have to fight the urge to not "go for it" with women they find attractive. In a way, we're kinda hard-wired to do that. That doesn't mean that we can't or shouldn't fight the urge and be decent to women - especially now that women everywhere are speaking up and letting us know how this kind of behavior makes them feel.<p>Addendum:<p>The first reactions to my post are pretty negative. I can see why (over-generalization) but on-balance I don't feel like my post is negative. The core message is - be decent. If the volume of women's complaints are a measure, I'd venture to say there are a lot of men out there that struggle to do so. If you're not one of those guys- awesome . But a lot of dudes are and the first step to getting them to treat women well is to vocalize the expectation that they do so and maybe while we're at it, not trying to shame them into decency by pointing out how awesome <i>you</i> are and, by contrast, what horrible human beings they are for having unacceptable feelings.
Business relationships take place within a business context, email, meetings etc where both parties are pretty clear on intent.<p>She messaged him on Facebook, that's not a professional environment, it's social. He took it as such, his messages weren't inappropriate. Labelling it as 'sexism' is a little much, it's normal human interaction.