Sexual harassment is in the news again and, as seems to happen every time it makes the news, the women involved are coming off in a poor light.
Unlike some others, I believe that sexual harassment exists and I believe that it is a problem we need to solve. Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where feminists have done more good than harm. Like rape, harassment is something done by individuals (women as likely as men) and not something done by men in general. By pretending that it is really the latter, feminists have distorted the meaning of words here beyond all recognition.
So lets remind ourselves what it means to harass someone, sexually or otherwise:
However, a man who makes a single inappropriate remark or even a man who is slow on the pick up and makes several such remarks or makes several such gestures before he gets the hint is not a harasser. Real harassment (of all types, not just sexual) is a pretty rare phenomenon. It's horrible for the victim when it does and her knowing that it is rare is no consolation.
The feminist view is that rape and harassment are tools that men use collectively to repress women. On this argument a man who makes a single inappropriate move is still harassing a woman because he is part of a conspiracy of men. That view is a stupid, deluded fantasy. Unfortunately, it is a stupid deluded fantasy that has had influence in jurisprudence.
Unlike some others, I believe that sexual harassment exists and I believe that it is a problem we need to solve. Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where feminists have done more good than harm. Like rape, harassment is something done by individuals (women as likely as men) and not something done by men in general. By pretending that it is really the latter, feminists have distorted the meaning of words here beyond all recognition.
So lets remind ourselves what it means to harass someone, sexually or otherwise:
harass: torment by subjecting to constant interference or intimidation. (Concise Oxford)So real harassment occurs when a man constantly baragges a woman with unwanted sexual attention. That really happens and it should not.
However, a man who makes a single inappropriate remark or even a man who is slow on the pick up and makes several such remarks or makes several such gestures before he gets the hint is not a harasser. Real harassment (of all types, not just sexual) is a pretty rare phenomenon. It's horrible for the victim when it does and her knowing that it is rare is no consolation.
The feminist view is that rape and harassment are tools that men use collectively to repress women. On this argument a man who makes a single inappropriate move is still harassing a woman because he is part of a conspiracy of men. That view is a stupid, deluded fantasy. Unfortunately, it is a stupid deluded fantasy that has had influence in jurisprudence.
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