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Ladies only please. Have you been harassed on the job?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by chazp, Jun 28, 2007.

?

Have you been sexually harassed on the job during your journalism career?

  1. Yes

    9 vote(s)
    60.0%
  2. No

    6 vote(s)
    40.0%
  1. 21

    21 Well-Known Member

    Actually, I think it's evolved a lot...certainly since the Melissa Ludtkes and Christine Brennans and Lesley Vissers and others, who walked into locker rooms to howls of 'Get that c unt out of here!' if they were able to walk in at all.

    Younger people getting into the business--male and female--don't have the same issues, they're used to being together in locker rooms and pressboxes and hotel bars. Better camaraderie, more mutual respect.
     
  2. ondeadline

    ondeadline Well-Known Member

    It depends on what the definition of is is.[\billclinton]
     
  3. zeke12

    zeke12 Guest

    I knew what you were talking about. That's why I thought it was funny. If it wasn't, it wasn't.
     
  4. Smasher_Sloan

    Smasher_Sloan Active Member

    I'm not one of the ladies, but I was around when locker rooms were first opened to female reporters. Some of the stuff that went on then was appalling -- guys hurriedly stripping out of uniforms so they'd be naked in front of the "girls" and then staying that way.

    Once saw Tug McGraw completely naked, sitting on his locker stool, trying to provoke a reaction from a female TV photographer who was shooting the interview. This stuff wasn't technically a violation, of course, because it was a locker room and they were under no obligation to wear clothes. But the intent was obvious, especially when other Phillies players were standing in the background, snickering.

    Saw a lot of heavy-handed stuff from older managers and coaches suggesting the women had ulterior motives for coming into the clubhouse.

    Things got better as the novelty went away and a new generation of uniformed personnel came along. There were still the occasional idiots and the old guys who didn't get it. A trainer for one team made a big production out of presenting a handmade "trophy" to a woman who had been covering the team for part of their trip. He decided she was the No. 1 girl reporter or something like that. She said thanks, put the "trophy" on a nearby table and left it there. There wasn't anything nasty about it, just a silly old man trying to be funny and failing.

    Having seen stuff that was truly offensive, it bothers the hell out of me if I see someone stretching a harassment claim.

    Case in point:

    This happened with a team I covered. A guy in the team's office was working at his cubicle after hours, talking on the phone with a friend. They were talking about a mutual friend who had recently had a baby. When they discussed the baby's name, the cubicle guy chuckled and said, "Wow, that's gay." A lesbian co-worker several cubicles away overheard that, filed paperwork for a "hostile workplace" and everyone in the office had to go to sensitivity training classes.
     
  5. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    I understand the thinking here, Cadet; if you went and complained about every little comment or look or whatever, you might not have time left over to actually do your job. On the other hand, it's this sort of thinking that emboldens those who are predisposed to harass.
     
  6. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    What 21 said.

    I think a lot of us are more concerned about discrimination than garden variety harassment.

    Sexual harassment that rises to the level of hindering you from doing your job is a problem.

    Having someone "meow" at you or something like that? Not so much.
     
  7. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    A guy actually meowed at you?
     
  8. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    Yeah! ;D On a regular basis, actually. I didn't care. Hell, in some ways I considered the guy a friend.
     
  9. Cadet

    Cadet Guest

    It can be, yes. But for lack of a better comparison, I look at it like officiating a sporting event. Good referees/umpires make it known early in the game what their boundaries are, then are free to be more flexible as the game progresses. Everyone knows what the expectations are.

    I agree the misuse of harassment claims weakens the entire process, just as I agree with Smasher that perhaps the worst day-to-day stuff is behind us. Doesn't mean it still doesn't happen.
     
  10. outofplace

    outofplace Well-Known Member

    Sounds like something that would be too corny to be threatening lol
     
  11. Lugnuts

    Lugnuts Well-Known Member

    Exactly. ;D
     
  12. Big Buckin' agate_monkey

    Big Buckin' agate_monkey Active Member

    Note to self: Do NOT meow at the ladies.
     
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