Chapter 8: Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: An Introduction to Two Film Reviews

Sexual harassment, according to Fitzgerald et al.’s (1995) taxonomy, encompasses gender harassment (sexist remarks, sexually suggestive stories, display of pornography, etc.), unwanted sexual attention (ogling, repeated unreciprocated requests for dates, unwelcome touching, etc.), and sexual coercion (promises of job-related rewards for sexual favours or threats of punishment for non-cooperation). It has been defined ‘as unwanted or unwelcome conduct that has the purpose or effect of being intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive’ (McDonald, 2012, p. 2). Decades of research on the negative consequences of sexual harassment indicate that ‘professional and personal harms arise from sexual harassment regardless of the specific subtype of harassment involved’ (Cortina & Areguin, 2021, p. 294). Insofar as sexual harassment can cause harm, Bowes-Sperry and Powell (1999) argue, it is an ethical issue. Indeed, perpetrators of sexual harassment humiliate their victims. By doing so, they undermine their self-respect and shatter their dignity (see Margalit, 1996; Shultziner & Rabinovici, 2012). Humiliation of a person is ‘a degradation, a literal de-grading’ of the person (Torres & Bergner, 2010, p. 199).