Sexual Harassment @ Work

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Did it ever occur to you that you're not being harassed? The fact that you feel offended does not mean anyone actually did anything wrong, other than in your mind.

I would agree, that is until the woman tells the man that they feel like they are being sexually harassed. The problem is that most woman do not speak up until they become increasingly agitated and then drop the bomb saying that they had to endure XXXX-months-years of this "hostile work environment". When all along all they had to do was to speak up on the first and few subsequent incidents and maybe no one would have been hurt or fired. Certainly the argument can be easily made that the man should not have done it in the first place, given. That is not the issue, IMHO. Most work environments have strong rules about sexual harassement and how it is dealt with. People just need to follow the rules or pay the price of their actions, or in my example, inactions.

[xoxoxoBruce]

If I say to a man, "nice tie", that's certainly acceptable.... unless I'm openly queer. Then it could be deemed sexual harassment by a homophobe and his complaint would be considered serious by management desperately trying to be politically correct.

With women, it becomes infinitely more complicated. If I say nice blouse, I have to worry about her feeling I said it in a salacious manner. Or she felt I was leering at the time. Then I stand accused of creating a hostile workplace when the hostility is hers.


Oh, and I can't say her hair smells nice... if I'm a midget.