Equal Opportunities Work - Theories about Practice

scxual intention at all, but where the action has been interpreted as sexual by
tbc person toward whom it was aimed, possibly as a kind of wish fulfillment.
When an action is said to be unwelcome, this does not always mean it was
not desired by the person at whom it was aimed. And what about the person
who is being insulted -- does he or she always feel offended? Probably not. It
is not uncommon that a person subjected to sexual harassment considers that
behavior a natural part of the patriarchal culture, while an outsider may think it
would be perfectly in order for that person to feel harassed. It is also possible
that the person who was subjected will, later in life, retrospectively change his
or her opinion and decide that he or she was truly being insulted at the time.3a
In that case, has the subjective criterion been fulfilled? The person being
harassed will absolutely not want to file either an informal or a formal report.
This happens very frequently
Unwelcome behavior relating to a persons' se>r/gender may be referred to as
"sexually offensive behavior". Sexually offensive behavior is not usually a
conscious intent to offend, is not always physical behavior, and is not always
perceived as offensive by the person at whom it is aimed. Nonetheless,
sexually offensive behavior is a serious problem in the work environment. Yet
it is not always regarded as such. Such behavior often consists of quite small
comments and innuendos, not per se always serious enough to be very upset
about. Moreover, it is so common that we cannot reasonably be expected to
react to every single occunence. Often, sexually offensive behavior is even
part of the workplace culture and climate. But an individual who is
consistently or frequently subjected to sexually offensive behavior is deeply
affected by it in the long run, irrespective of the extent to which he or she is
aware of it at the time. He or she may simply react with a feeling of not being
happy at the workplace, of fatigue, of lack of energy, of sensing that he or she
is unwelcome, of diminished self-confidence, etc. Small insults have
cumulative effects, and eventually the reaction is explosive, at which point
others may react with surprise and uncertainty: isn't this person exaggerating?
The small incident that triggered the reaction may not have been very serious.
However, it must be seen as part of a cumulative series of sexual insults and
innuendos.
This kind of sexually offensive behavior is not what one normally associates
with sexual harassment. In "Protection of Women", the expression "sexual
harassment" is described as sometimes misleading. It must be recalled that in
34 ttid. p. zt.
37