Are Men Sexually Harrassed? Legal and Psychological Considerations

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 height="100%"><tr> <td valign="top" width=160 BGCOLOR="#333333" TEXT="#F7F7FF" background="03cdedc2ddualp.png"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id8.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact Us"><U><B>Contact Us</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id147.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="FAQs"><U><B>FAQs</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id16.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Dr. Silverman"><U><B>About Dr. Silverman</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id146.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Great links"><U><B>Great links</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id3.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Mind Reader© archive"><U><B>The Mind Reader© archive</B></U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="03d64643.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#666633" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D</B></FONT>    |     <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000BF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Wade Silverman, Ph.D"><U>home</U></A></FONT></div> <div>                                                   </div> <div> Are Men Sexually Harrassed? Legal and Psychological Considerations</div> <bR> <div> In the popular movie, Disclosure, Michael Douglas is sexually harrassed by his boss, Demi Moore. This movie angered many advocates of women's rights who believed the movie trivialized sexual harrassment of women in the workplace.</div> <div> Their conclusions were correct, but for the wrong reason. This is because the majority of sexually harrassing behaviors toward male victims are perpetrated by male perpetrators. In a study by Waldo, Berdahl, and Fitzgerald (1998) in <I>Law and Human Behavior</I> they found that men reported that other men were the perpetrators forty-seven percent (47%) of the time while women were prepetrators thirty-one percent (31%) of the time. </div> <div> What men consider to be sexual harrassment poses an interesting contrast between what they experience as harrassment and what the law prohibits in the workplace.  Interestingly in the Waldo, Berdahl, and Fitzgerald study, men considered enforcement of the male gender role as emotionally more upsetting than unwanted sexual attention, lewd comments, or negative remarks about men. Sexual coersion and unwanted sexual conduct and statements are recognized legally as sexual harrassment for both men and women. Men, however, also consider the enforcement of the "traditional male gender role" as sexual harrassment. This may entail ridicule for feminine role behavior or demands to exhibit stereotypical male behavior. Both of these examples are not considered sexual harrassment by law. If a man is teased by his male supervisor, he is not entitled to sue under Title VII or the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992, although he would still be able to bring a civil battery or assault claim. The debate remains whether same-sex harrassment is actionable under state or federal discrimination law.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>