Thesis Statement on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

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Sexual harassment is always happening whether we are made blatantly aware of it or it is happening underhandedly. Some of us may have experienced sexual harassment on our jobs. “Power is at the core of feminist theories of sexual harassment, although it has rarely been measured directly in terms of workplace authority. Popular characterizations portray male supervisors harassing female subordinates, but power-threat theories suggest that women in authority may be more frequent targets.” This article analyzes longitudinal survey data and qualitative interviews from the Youth Development Study to test this idea and to delineate why and how supervisory authority, gender nonconformity, and workplace sex ratios affect harassment. Relative to non-supervisors, female supervisors are more likely to report harassing behaviors and to define their experiences as sexual harassment. Sexual harassment can serve as an equalizer against women in power, motivated more by control and domination than by sexual desire. Interviews point to social isolation as a mechanism linking harassment to gender nonconformity and women’s authority, particularly in male-dominated work settings.

Statement of problem

Sexual harassment in the workplace is more prevalent than we think. Sexual harassment comes in many different forms as well. It does not necessarily have to be the act of sex. It can take place with inappropriate conversations, body language, eye contact, or even inappropriate jokes. It should not happen in the workplace but it does and not only does it make the victim uncomfortable, but is sometimes not handled properly. I have heard many narratives about people being sexually harassed at their jobs and them having to be the ones to leave the department. And the antagonist gets off with no punishment. Usually, these cases that I hear of are men sexually harassing women. Although the male-on-female narrative is one we always hear, it does not go unnoticed that men suffer from sexual harassment from women as well. Sexual harassment training and seminars are hardly not enough to stop this stigma. Some people feel as if they are too good to be caught up in being the villain in these cases.

Literature review

The article, “Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power,” analyzes the data of women supervisors/subordinates reporting sexual harassment and why/how supervisory authority affects harassment. The article stated that “People employed in large establishments likely encounter a broader range of individuals at work, and potential harassers may be more inclined to act inappropriately due to the anonymity of large organizations.” (Mclaughlin) One of the main examples that stood out was Holly, the first woman in upper management at her manufacturing firm. Her subordinates would sometimes joke around and say, “If we had somebody with balls in this position, we’d be getting things done.” (Mclaughlin) She was also the sole female at a company dinner and a man would inappropriately grope her and touch her without any kind of consent. Apparently, women in power/authority give off a power struggle in a male dominant work environment. Male-dominated work environment shows that female supervisors are more likely to get sexually harassed than a female non-supervisor.

In this article, they also bring up an interesting point that if a woman obtains a leadership position in the workplace, because she may be the only woman in a leadership position, she is still under-looked, undervalued, and not respected as much. Moreover, women have a harder time moving up the success latter. Whereas, if a male obtains a leadership position, he is praised and glorified and his way up is nothing like the struggle of a woman moving up in her position would be (Mclaughlin).

In another article, men have stated that women are “too sensitive” and are oftentimes misinterpreting the man’s intentions. They call this certain harassment “girl watching”. This term, “girl watching” is the idea of how men visually verbally harass women. It could be comments to their subordinates such as “Hey, did you see that body?”, or other things that can be sexually suggestive. To my surprise, men reportedly found nothing wrong with their actions and “girl watching”. They feel as if women are being too sensitive and misinterpretating.

I also read an article that was based on sexual harassment of African American women because I am an African American woman. I felt this was a focal point for me and something I can relate to the most. In this study, women Black women were: touched inappropriately, asked to do sexual favors for male coworkers, and lastly called very discriminating things. Research on contra power harassment suggests that gender, race, and class positions imbue harassers with informal power, even when targets possess greater organizational authority than their harassers (Rospenda et al. 1998). Women holding authority positions thus offer an intriguing paradox for theory and research on sexual harassment, and scholars have advanced two distinct positions. The first, the vulnerable-victim hypothesis, suggests that more vulnerable workers—including women, racial minorities, and those with the most precarious positions and least workplace authority—are subject to greater harassment. The second, the power-threat model, suggests that women who threaten men’s dominance are more frequent targets. Although the matter is far from settled, research has found greater support for the paradoxical power-threat model, in which women in authority positions are most likely to face harassment (Chamberlain et al. 2008) and discrimination (Stainback, Ratliff, and Roscigno 2011). (Mclaughlin)

Throughout all the articles I have read, I have seen a lot of examples of sexual harassment. As stated before, sexual harassment comes in many different forms. Some forms of sexual harassment may not be as obvious as others. Sexual harassment is not always male on female. Things are harder for Black women in the workplace that experience sexual harassment. They are being hit from two different angles, one being race and the latter being that they are women.

Theory

The theory presented in this study is hegemonic masculinity, which argues that society privileges a single normative ideal of male behavior, and provides a broad sociological framework for understanding harassment, gender, and power. Men may be vulnerable to harassment if they are perceived as feminine (McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2012).) Another theory, that both these articles briefly mention is the Feminist theory, based on women’s oppression and the inequality that is often endured based on gender. In these two articles, gender inequality is unquestionable in institutions like the workplace. The social problem is that women remain the most frequent targets of classic sexual harassment markers, such as unwanted touching and invasion of personal space. Not to mention problems such as sexual harassment, sex discrimination, and workplace bullying will recede if and when women attain greater power at work. Thus, women who threaten men’s dominance are more frequent targets. The problem begins with hegemonic masculinity, where men who have power view themselves as being dominant and women as subordinate. As well as viewing women as lower, vulnerable, or not capable of doing a “man occupation”.

Hypotheses

Power, at work and in the broader society, pervades accounts of harassment in all of this literature (Berdahl 2007a; Rospenda, Richman, and Nawyn 1998; Welsh 1999).
Men may be vulnerable to harassment if they are perceived as feminine (DeSouza and Solberg 2004; Waldo, Berdahl, and Fitzgerald 1998), and women may be targeted if they challenge their subordinate position in the gender system. Sexual harassment may thus act as a tool to police appropriate ways of “doing gender” in the workplace and to penalize gender nonconformity (West and Zimmerman 1987).
Women continue to be underrepresented in positions of authority or relegated to the lower rungs of management (Elliott and Smith 2004; Gorman 2005; Kalev 2009; Reskin 2003; Reskin and McBrier 2000).

Methodology

This study utilizes six peer reviews scholarly journal articles to adjudicate three hypotheses. The following key terms we used are sexual Harassment and workplace. The following Databases were searched using the CSUN Oviatt Library website search, EBSCO (Host), and Sociological Abstract. The scholarly journals we used are American Sociological Review, Gender & Society, Sexual Harassment and Masculinity, Women & Therapy, Social Forces, and Sex Roles.

Discussion

The differences found in this study are, “In the“Sexual Harassment, Workplace…” We see that there are many consequences of sexual harassment such as existing policies and procedures. It is important to ask when did these policies come into play and are these policies actually taking effect? Another difference is the outcome is Patriarchal Terrorism. As mentioned previously in theory, there is an unquestionable existence of gender inequality, especially in the workplace. For example, Women working in a gas station and a male coworker makes a sexual comment to her and since she is the only female among other men, she decides to stay quiet.

Another strong point that is brought up is men are more likely to harass a woman if they feel a woman is more authoritative. Usually, this is seen when women take leadership roles in the workplace. Men use their sexuality to get things and feel as though it is a weakness for women. This is interesting because in most cases, men in leadership roles use their sexuality for the same thing. Males do not realize how dangerous and uncomfortable this can be. They feel women are being too sensitive when complaints are made about a male and their harassment.

I personally experienced sexual harassment at my job last year. I had been working there for some months and had built cool relationships with all of my coworkers. There were some men who did take a liking to me but were very respectful. Except for this one guy. He had moved up to the team lead position and was overusing his power to talk to me. Every day, he would ask to take me on a date and each time I said no, he would give me reasons on why I should not miss out on the opportunity. He would flirt with me, on and off the clock. Even in front of customers making it a very uncomfortable and unprofessional environment. After months of me refusing to give him a chance, his puppy love for me turned into raging hate. He would yell at me for doing the slightest thing wrong. He would send me home if he was frustrated with me. And I dealt with this for a long time because when I would bring it up to other coworkers or management, they thought it was funny and nothing to really be concerned about because he was not “touching me”. But as soon as I mustered up the courage to report him, he quit.

I cannot imagine how many women suffer from this. I figured if it can happen to me, It can happen to anyone. And it is so hard for women to report it because women are always looked at as the ones who brought the harassment on.

Conclusion

Although legal and organizational responses to sexual harassment have evolved rapidly in the past three decades, the cultural image of harassers and targets has not kept pace with changing workplace realities. Many still view the typical harassment scenario as one involving a sleazy male boss and a powerless female secretary. As this article shows, the reality is far more varied. Moving away from such stereotypes is a critical step for improving organizational policies and training procedures on sexual harassment. Effective training must go beyond male boss/female subordinate role-playing exercises and better reflect the diversity of harassment experiences. Effective grievance procedures must also enable targeted workers to come forward without undermining their own authority. For women who become bosses, their positions create a paradox of power in a gender system that continues to subordinate women. In taking on positions of authority, they also take on a greater risk of sexual harassment.

References

McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2012). Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority, and the Paradox of Power. American Sociological Review, 77(4), 625–647. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412451728
QUINN, B. A. (2002). Sexual Harassment and Masculinity: The Power and Meaning of “Girl Watching.” Gender & Society, 16(3), 386–402. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016003007
Nicole T. Buchanan Ph.D. & Alayne J. Ormerod Ph.D. (2002) Racialized Sexual Harassment in the Lives of African American Women, Women & Therapy, 25:3-4, 107-124, DOI: 10.1300/J015v25n03_08
Blackstone, Amy, Uggen, Christopher, McLaughlin, Heather. 2009. “Legal Consciousness and Responses to Sexual Harassment.” Law & Society Review 43:631–68.
Eisenberg, Susan. 2001. “Marking Gender Boundaries: Porn, Piss, and Power Tools.” Pp. 286–95 in Feminist Frontiers, edited by Richardson, L., Taylor, V., Whittier, N. New York: McGraw Hill.
Fitzgerald, Louise F., Shullman, Sandra L., Bailey, Nancy, Richards, Margaret, Swecker, Janice, Gold, Yael, Ormerod, Mimi, Weitzman, Lauren. 1988. “The Incidence and Dimensions of Sexual Harassment in Academia and the Workplace.” Journal of Vocational Behavior 32:152–75.

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