Social Media & Harassment

"Owen Cunningham, who works at a design firm in San Francisco, said he had started wondering, 'What flirting is O.K.?' CreditPeter Prato for The New York Times" (3).

The article “Men at Work Wonder if They Overstepped With Women, Too” by Nellie Bowles with The New York Times helps us to consider the issues surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace. Recently, there was a campaign started on social media in which users who had been victims of sexual harassment wrote posts titled “#MeToo” as a way to raise awareness about the issue. Bowles forces readers to reflect about how men and women feel about this issue. Men are seemingly concerned about having made women feel sexually harassed before without necessarily having thought about it themselves until the #MeToo campaign became popular. Bowles helps us to consider two different points of view. The more liberal solution emphasizes gathering information from women in order to create necessary workplace boundaries. The more conservative solution emphasizes ignoring women in certain situations or cancelling events where sexual harassment may be an issue.

Certain strategies that have been previously tried have not seemed to have a lasting solution. For example, “Many companies have long mandated anti-harassment training to educate men and women about the issue. But in a report last year, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found that much of that rating was ineffective and that workplace harassment was widely underreported” (2). The article seems to leave readers with questions surrounding these issues. Considering the anti-harassment training was ineffective, the question here seems to be, what can be changed in order to make the training more effective? Referring to a recent fund raiser in Palm Beach, Florida, men were confused about when it is okay to hug a woman (2). Lawyer Jonathan Segal with the harassment task force as mentioned earlier explains why context matters. For instance, “Mr. Segal said he had explained to the men that the context mattered and that pretending there was a gray zone between collegial friendliness and sexual assault was absurd” (2,3). Clearly Bowles is trying to reveal the importance of knowing the difference between friendliness and harassment and it is up to individuals in society to know. Segal goes on to explain that avoiding women is not proactive; especially considering it is not always possible (3). Al Harris, with workplace equality programs, believes that issues surrounding sexual harassment in the workplace are causing men to stop supporting women in the workplace and this is unfortunate (3). Fortunately, founder of Lafayette California’s Table Group Pat Lencioni, explains that a good solution is to ask female co-workers themselves (3). When women were asked if they were concerned about sexual harassment in the workplace, they said no because they know their co-workers (3). It is evident that Bowles is trying to emphasize the need to truly understand people and the difference between friendliness and harassment.

The promising aspect of the article is that men and women have been forced to pause and consider this issue as a serious one. Although training should continue to be refined and driven by those who have been victimized before, the positive idea is that the discussion about harassment is remaining open and media platforms have allowed victims to feel empowered to speak up. This seems to be a case where sensationalism on social media may be creating positive change, especially for those who have been affected by sexual harassment. It is not an issue to take lightly and Bowles subtly emphasizes this with her closing remarks in the article. For example, “Open bars are being replaced with game zones. One client recently asked for an extremely watered-down ‘John Daly’ to be the party’s signature drink which Ms. Freeman found strange but probably wise” (5). This is especially relevant because John Daly is a public figure with a history of domestic violence allegations. Considering alcohol is problematic in the issue of sexual harassment because of its abilities to enhance courage, it is surely ironic to request the signature drink at a party to be a watered-down John Daly. Ultimately, the message is to pay attention to the issue of sexual harassment and lessen the impact at the same time.

Bowles, Nellie. “Men at Work Wonder If They Overstepped With Women, Too.” The New York Times, 10 Nov. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/business/men-at-work-wonder-sexual-harassment.html.

710 words