I recently observed sexual harassment behavior at work. Here's what I did. In my ENG Research in Human Sexuality class at Glendale Community College, I set out to observe whether or not MY definitions of sexual harassment actually occurred in my workplace on a regular basis. I define female harassment the same for males: touching, verbal terms, sexual questions, and sexual flirting were my most obvious concerns. From January 20 to 22 2002, I spent one hour each day, for three days, observing my co-workers in the cafeteria and lobby area of my place of employment, the City of Phoenix. Here is what I saw.
On three different occasions I saw female workers unnecessarily touching other co-workers, male and female, while they were talking by putting their hands on their shoulder and standing quite close while talking. The first instance occurred in the first floor lobby. I saw the occurrence form a distance, a woman worker talking to a male coworker.
The male co-worker made a joke and the female employee found the joke hysterical and put her hands and head on his shoulder while she was laughing. From a distance it looked like it could be taken for something else. The second case also transpired in the first floor lobby. What I saw were two female coworkers; I guess they hadn't seen each other in a while. The first female worker gave the second worker a hug while the female worker just seem to take the hug rather than hug back. Through the five-minute conversation the initial female continuously stood face to face with the other worker while they talked. The third situation was similar to the first being that the female worker touched the male worker on the shoulder after a joke was made. The only difference is...
Nicely written
The essay brilliantly highlights the problems that having a vague definition of sexual harassment creates - anyone can create almost any interpretation to suit their needs. Ultimately it becomes a tool for exploitation rather than as a deterrent for unwanted (sexual) attention. The essay highlights what needs to be done to prevent that sorry day from being a reality.
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