Hey everyone!
On Monday, I will
be leading the class discussion on Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment is not
limited to any specific space, and takes place in many different environments.
However, I will talk about sexual harassment in the work place. In the textbook
sexual harassment is spoken about on pages 196-199.
The article that
we have chosen as the additional reading can be found in the library database, under ‘communication and mass media.’
Copy this link, and it will be the first option:
Cowan,
Renee L., and Jaime E. Bochantin. "Pregnancy And Motherhood On The Thin
Blue Line: Female Police Officers' Perspectives On Motherhood In A Highly
Masculinized Work Environment." Women
& Language 32.1 (2009): 22-
Please note in this article where it speaks about
how women are treated by other fellow police officers, and why they don’t report
their peers.
Two questions that I would like you to think of
before coming to class are:
1) If you have worked or
currently work, have you ever been given a training on sexual harassment, and
do you think it helps?
2) Do you know of anyone
that was sexually harassed at work, and did they report it? Why or why not? If they
did report it, how and to who?
Happy Thanksgiving!
*******UPDATE
We discussed in class
today the history of sexual harassment in America. I mentioned that during
slavery, African American women were brutally raped and were even forced to
have their slave owner’s babies. I also mentioned that during
industrialization, immigrant women were forced to do whatever their bosses demanded
of them and that even during the contemporary times- women were subjected to
work environment that subjected them to ridicule based on their sex. Unfortunately,
during those times, when women experienced hostile and abusive workplaces it
was just considered having a “bad boss” or as further proof that women didn’t
belong in the work environment.
I showed the importance of communication, since sexual harassment existed long before the term
was coined. The term “sexual harassment” only became recognized as something illegal
and not just seen as inappropriate, when women could name their violence.
It is also very important to note that while the
statistics show that women are the ones that are mostly harassed by men, ANYONE
can be a victim of sexual harassment, and all sexes have experienced it.
Additionally, to further the discussion, I researched Beth. A.
Quinn, since the text book mentioned some of her work. Her research shows that
while men perceive what they are doing to be fun, women see it as harassment. She
gives a few explanations as to why. If you are interested, you can do a google
search and you will find a few scholarly articles that use her research and
provide further analysis.
Here are some additional questions for you to respond
to. Feel free to also respond to the earlier questions that I posted last week.
Additionally, if there is something that you would like to talk about feel
free. J
1) It states in the text book, “Women of color experience sexual harassment at the intersection of race and gender.” Which means, that unfortunately,
not only do they experience sexual
harassment as a woman, it is also intertwined with racial discrimination. We spoke a
little in class about why they are even less likely to file a complaint. Why do
you think this is?
2) Remember the article you read how women are treated by other fellow police officers, and that
they don’t report their peers. Why do you think this is?
Miriam
Hi Miriam,
ReplyDeleteGreat presentation today!
Regarding your first question, "Why do I think Women of color are less likely to report sexual harassment", I feel that women of color are placed in a bad situation when it comes to speaking up about an embarrassing or uncomfortable situation. Not only is it a troubling thing for a woman to admit to, a woman of color tends to feel like the odds are against them and they won't be taken seriously or believed anyway so why go through the trouble. I think this is disheartening because this effects the safety of an individual and it's not a reassuring feeling to have. Like I mentioned in class, working in the restaurant industry comes with advantages and disadvantages. It is definitely an environment where sexual harassment takes place typically often. I've come to accept that, honestly, but knowing that my managers and owners don't accept sexual harassment at all makes me feel safe. I wonder if training would help reduce the sexual harassment cases but I think that even if it's a mandatory thing during an orientation at a job or school, that doesn't prevent it from happening down the line. Like someone mentioned class, when it comes to men "harassing" women, men think it's all fun and games, while women feel it to be uncomfortable. By coining the term "sexual harassment'', it allows individuals to name their violence as you said, as well as being able to address it when it happens in the workplace or an educational setting.
Thanks again for the insight!
Hi April,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your feedback.I agree with your assessment that women often don't report sexual harassment because they feel as though they won't be believed and many times they have no evidence to prove their case.
I have never worked in the food industry and was really surprised that so many people spoke about the harassment that they experience in this line of work.
Additionally, just want to let you know that I was the one that spoke about Beth Quinn's findings that while men view "girl watching" as a way of bonding, and view it as a joke, women see it as harassment.
Thanks again for your feedback,
Myriam
Hi Myriam,
ReplyDeleteYour presentation was very full of information and it was extremely eye opening at all of the horrors going on in the work place. To answer your first question, women of color aren’t as likely to bring up sexual harassment to their bosses because they don’t want to be looked at as someone who only wants attention. It’s very hard for a woman, especially one of color, to come out to a person in a higher position, which is typically a man, and say what has been going on. There is a lot of questioning that takes place as to who is actually telling the truth, and without proof, sadly it is very hard to frame someone. Along with the female officers not reporting their peers, is because they don’t want to be seen as a “tattle tale” or what not. It is less likely for a woman to be a police officer than a man, and as a woman, they may not want the attention on them should something happen to them. (https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/wle8708.pdf) It’s very terrifying that these things go on in many workplaces, however there is little being done to actually fix the problem.
Hi Alexandra,
ReplyDeleteI agree that it seems that little is being done, because even when employees receive a sexual harassment training they often do not feel safe to report. I think there needs to be more measures taken to assure that all women can report and still feel safe!
Thanks for your feedback,
Myriam.
Personally, I have never received any training on sexual harassment in the workplace outside of the generic employee handbook that we are given but most of us never look at. In high school and into my first years of college, I worked at an Italian restaurant/pizzeria. The atmosphere in the kitchen was extremely accepting, if not encouraging of, crude humor and sexual jokes. It became expected of the kitchen workers to make jokes towards the females working the counter and running food and it was never questioned or reported. Unfortunately, I don’t believe anything would have been done even if the actions were reported to the managerial staff, as they were often involved in the jokes and activities as well.
ReplyDeleteA discussion that we had in class, which my own personal experience has proven to me, is that the outwardness of this harassment seems lessened when in a more traditional office job or anything other than part time work. While there is still clearly discrimination towards women in this way, I think it is less so in that it is less acceptable and there are better trainings and programs of how to deal with these kind of situations. While at my internship I did not personally experience any form of sexual harassment from my coworkers, but we had a more comprehensive discussion about it during our orientation and the policies definitely seemed to be more strictly enforced by the company rather than being brushed off as jokes by the managers at restaurants, etc. I think it’s also important to recognize that we only recently coined the term “sexual harassment”, as you talked about in your presentation.
Hi Mallory,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your response. Yes, I agree that sexual harassment occurs more frequently at specific work environments. I searched for an answer as to why, and found an article online that stated that restaurants do have a higher occurrence of sexual harassment because of the social aspects. Like someone mentioned in class, as a waitress you're expected to be overly friendly, and the more people like you, the higher your tip will be. This can cause others to take this as flirting and in turn respond inappropriately. Another important point that the article stated, was, "Due to the high number of people restaurant employees are in contact with on a daily basis whether it be customers or employees, those who have "outgoing or friendly personalities" are likely to be more social. Other social characteristics include the high degree of social contact in the workplace, the unusual hours of work, including long, irregular hours involving evenings and holidays and the involvement with a number of different people in the course of delivering the service. For these reasons, restaurants create a very informal atmosphere (environment) which in the end actually encourages greater intimacy with co-workers".
Again, thank you for your feedback.
here is the article if you want to read further.
http://www.hotel-online.com/Trends/AdvancesInHospitalityResearch/SexualHarassment1998.html
Myriam Kind
Myraim,
ReplyDeleteI used to work at supermarket and there was never any training on sexual harassment.They more-so warned me that I was going to experience some uncomfortable situations.They just told me if I feel uncomfortable to just tell management. I think that their should be sexual harassment training. I think people need to know what the different type of sexual harassment there are. I think people sometimes don't know that certain actions make people uncomfortable. For example, people think that sexual harassment may only be physical but it is also verbal. The training should explain verbal and nonverbal sexual harassment types. And make it a safe place to talk about it.
In response to your first question, it is hard enough for women to talk about sexual assault. For a women of color it is even harder. I think racial discrimination has a to do with why they do not want to file a complaint against sexual harassment.
http://www.doj.state.or.us/victims/pdf/women_of_color_network_facts_sexual_violence_2006.pdf
This article actually describes sexual violence in communities of color. It states that at for every black women that reports her rape, 15 do not.
I think that women do not report sexual harassment when in the police force because of the gender stereotypes that are already in place. For example, police officers are assumed to be a "mans" job. I read an article once about a group of police officers making this fellow police women feel uncomfortable. The group just stated that they were just joking when making the inappropriate jokes to make her feel welcome. However, what they made her want to do was quit.
Myriam,
ReplyDeleteI believe that for both your questions, it goes back to the rhetoric or logic that exists around different races, sexes and genders. Unfortunately, we belong to a society that utilizes a heavily sexist logic that benefits men. Furthermore, race can often also affect an individual’s credibility.
As far as women of color being less likely to report, this is because they have been portrayed and thus perceived as less credible. They are hyper sexualized individuals to begin with, and belong to a western society emerged in white culture. Therefore, they are perceived as sexual objects belonging to men and inferior to their white counterparts. Objectification leads to devaluing, thus deeming their experiences as less credible. Rebecca Walker writes about this discrediting of women in her piece about Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill. Although discussing women in general, it is important to note that Anita Hill did not file a complaint of sexual harassment against a white male, Clarence Thomas was also black. Therefore, it is important to acknowledge race, for had Anita Hill been white, she would have had a better chance at winning this case since white supremacy is still a serious issue in our society. However, since both individuals identified as black, gender was the determining factor.
In regards to women police not reporting their experiences, this once again goes back to the credibility, especially since the workplace was an institution constructed for men. Women already have to fight to achieve equal pay or be considered serious or competent enough for a job. They probably want to retain their dignity, which would be something lost if their male counterparts felt they were stirring trouble. I’ve seen this first hand as my mother also works in a male dominated environment. She works for the Department of Sanitation. Initially they made her hiring process more difficult because they knew an older woman with children was a liability given the unlimited time off and physical demand of the job. After working there for three years, I had developed epilepsy and so she requested to be put days permanently instead of the typical rotation of shifts. Her male counterparts perceived this as her being a woman asking for special requests, neglecting the fact that my mother was also primary caregiver to her children. This demonstrated not only the structuring of the workplace to better suit men, but also the lack of integrity surrounding women in the workforce. They automatically assumed my mother was asking for favors because she is a woman. If we changed the situation to a report of sexual harassment, we would probably still see this lack of seriousness and questioning of integrity.