Photo Credit: AdrainHancu
Spoiler Warning: The following blog contains spoilers for seasons 1 and 2 of Severance.
Apple TV+’s hit series Severance has gripped viewers and sparked conversation about toxic workplace environments, prompting viewers to consider concepts like identity, autonomy, sexual agency, and assault. In this week’s blog, we’re examining Severance’s fantastical storyline and the learnings we can take from it to make our own workplaces safer and healthier for all.
The series’ general premise centers around the “severance” procedure, wherein a person gets a chip implanted in their brain that splits their memories. When they go to work, they remember nothing about their personal lives. When they leave work, they remember nothing that happened during their workday. The show distinguishes each of these selves as “innies” and “outies” (referring to being in and out of work). With different sets of memories, the show portrays the innies and outies as separate characters.
The innies don’t know anything about the world outside the office. They don’t know what outside air tastes like. They have never experienced sleep. They don’t know if anyone on the outside loves them. On top of that, they have no personal freedoms. They can’t quit without their outie’s permission and have no personal freedom. They endure physical and psychological abuse from their employer and have no reporting options. The food they eat, the clothes they wear, their job functions – everything is in the control of somebody else. It is unquestionably workplace exploitation.
Over the course of the show, two innies – Mark and Helly – develop a budding office romance. In season 2 on a work retreat, innie Mark (who is essentially a virgin because he has no memory of sexual intimacy) makes the decision to have sex with Helly R. What he doesn’t know is that Helly R.’s outie, Helena, is there instead. Helena is the daughter of the CEO, and she’d been suppressing Helly’s consciousness from emerging so that she could stop rebellion from the innies, spy, and keep Mark S. working to finish his very important job. In Mark’s mind, this was a vulnerable sexual act between two people who loved each other. In reality, this was rape by fraud.
Founder and CEO of the Consent Awareness Network, Joyce Short, specifies that assent and consent are not one and the same, and that consent must be present for all sexual encounters. “Consent means ‘freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement,’ says Short. “Assent means ‘agreement on the face of it.’ So, when someone tells you a lie, you can be agreeing on the face of it but you’re not knowledgeable or informed. You can assent and agree, but that doesn’t mean you’re consenting.”
In the real world, some examples of deception that would lead to sexual contact with assent but without consent include impersonating a spouse or romantic partner, not disclosing STD status, stealthing (unknowingly removing or damaging a condom during sex) or abusing medical privileges (sexual contact beyond what is necessary for a procedure).
Innie Mark was sexually assaulted because, while he believed he was having sex with the woman he loves, he was actually having it with the CEO’s daughter who has, on every level, been responsible for the pain experienced by both his innie and outie selves. When Helly R. learns of this, she expresses her feelings of violation that her outie used “her” body to have sex with the man she loves without her knowledge or consent. This would technically make Helena responsible for the assault of two people. Outie Mark, too, would not have consented to sex with Helena or Helly R., further complicating the issue.
One way that Severance falls short in this storyline is by only highlighting Helly R.’s sense of violation, not innie Mark’s. The situation is portrayed as a messy, toxic, twisted love triangle, but Mark’s victimization is left unaddressed. Male sexual assault is too often diminished or left unacknowledged in media, and this is particularly true for doppelgänger sexual assault storylines. Vulture writer Ben Rosenstock notes that Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, The Flash, Fringe, and The Boys all contained storylines of men being deceived into sex believing they were with their romantic partners without addressing the male character’s victimization. While Rosenstock is a fan of the show, he remarks that:
“Science fiction and fantasy are still often allergic to acknowledging sexual assault, treating the potentially thorny ramifications as a distraction from more important plot-related concerns. It’s a shame because, even setting aside the importance of spotlighting male sexual-assault victims in a media landscape that rarely does, there’s real potential to comment on the nature of innie trauma and abuse by getting into how Mark feels about all of this.”
Although this particular example of sexual assault is impossible and fantastical in our reality, there is still plenty that we can learn from this storyline and the show as a whole. Below are our tips for a safer and healthier workplace we’re recommending based on the show’s dystopian material:
Provide 3rd Party Reporting Channels to Employees
Innies are disempowered in Severance because they have no one to turn to for help. Their employer is actively facilitating their abuse, there’s no one to take their claims seriously, and they are dehumanized on every level. Real workplaces can provide a variety of reporting options to employees to communicate to them that there’s always someone to turn to if they’re feeling harmed or unsafe.
Emphasize Bystander Intervention Amongst Staff
The innies only begin to realize their power when they come together. In real workplaces, employers should foster an environment where all staff look after each other, know their rights, and work together to ensure that safety is the utmost priority. We recommend sharing the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s Tip Sheet to empower staff with bystander strategies.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
The innies’ exploitation and abuse stems from the idea that their labor is more important than their personhood. Outie Mark might have made better and safer decisions for himself if he received adequate mental health care coverage from his employer, like a grief counselor. All workplaces should foster an environment where employees feel comfortable requesting mental health leave and other out-of-work priorities. Adequate work-life balance not only increases employee satisfaction and happiness, but also overall productivity.
Validate the Experience of All Sexual Assault Survivors, Including Men
Sexual assault is one of the most dehumanizing experiences possible. Above all else, survivors’ stories need to be recognized and validated, no matter their gender or sexuality. We encourage employers to review RAINN’s page, “How to Talk to Survivors of Sexual Violence” to learn trauma-informed, compassionate ways to engage in these discussions if a survivor chooses to come forward.
Revisit Your Workplace Policies
Unsure of where to start to create or amend workplace safety and sexual violence policy? RALIANCE would be happy to partner with anyone interested in shifting company policy to be more equitable and help create workplace environments free of sexual violence.
While Severance is a show of extraordinary circumstances, the themes of sexual assault, workplace exploitation, and autonomy are subjects we grapple with every day. We look forward to seeing how the show evolves to further investigate and dissect these issues, and we’ll continue paying close attention to all of our media to see the messages they convey and what we can learn from them.
RALIANCE is a trusted adviser for organizations committed to building cultures that are safe, equitable, and respectful. RALIANCE offers unparalleled expertise in serving survivors of sexual harassment, misconduct, and abuse which drives our mission to help organizations across sectors create inclusive environments for all. For more information, please visit www.RALIANCE.org.