Sexual harrassment: our national pastime

Over at Utopian Hell, there is a really disturbing post about sexual harrassment in the gaming community. There is a report of a female gamer who logged in as her character, was given an unwelcome "compliment" by a male player, and--when she complained--got trounced by both men and women for "ruining the game." If you have the stomach for it (I barely did), here is the original thread.

In the 50's and 60's, the general attitude was that women should either enjoy unwanted sexual advances and comments, or--at the very least--passively receive them. During the Second Wave of feminism, women were finally able to say a resounding No to unwanted sexual behaviors from men. But the gains of the Women's Movement have been seriously eroded, in case you haven't noticed, and saying no is not a popular option these days.

Today's "solution" to sexual harrassment is to ignore it. Ignoring it, you see, doesn't hurt the poor perpetrator, and it keeps everything nice and fun. But calling someone on it--as you can see from the vicious gaming thread--is way out of line.

Note poster number 7 in particular, who is completely wrong in saying that sexual harrassment in the workplace is "have sex with me and you won't be fired." That is not correct (but what do you expect, when Americans don't even know how to pronounce "harrassment" and are made fun of on TV when they pronounce it correctly?). Sexual harrassment in the workplace includes any sexual behavior or remark that makes another person feel uncomfortable. And the other person does not have to be the recipient of the remark; it can be someone within earshot of it.

For example, if Bob is alone in the office with Mary, and every day he says things like "Your ass looks good in those pants," and Mary is stupid enough to think that is an appropriate workplace remark, Bob is not committing sexual harrassment. But if Bill is in the room, too, and he is offended by the remark, then it is sexual harrassment. That's the law.

Like everything else, the sexual harrassment laws have been twisted around to attack women. "Now women are offended if you tell them you look nice" is the catchphrase. No, women are offended if you refer to, comment on, or touch their bodies when you have no right to or when you do so in an inappropriate setting. Apparently, that is just too much to ask. And the woman who speaks out is somehow betraying her desperate sisters who will subject themselves to anything to get a man (or some facsimile of one).