Sexual harassment against men: Examining the roles of feminist activism, sexuality, and organizational context.

Abstract

The current study investigated men's experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace, including sexually advancing harassment (e.g., unwanted touching) and gender harassment (e.g., derogatory comments). We examined the associations among engaging in feminist activism, being a sexual minority (e.g., gay, bisexual), and working in an organizational context that tolerates sexual harassment in predicting men's experiences of harassment. Moreover, we examined whether activism was protective against negative personal and professional harassment-related outcomes. Our study utilized survey data from 326 working adult men. According to results, engaging in feminist activism and working in an organizational context that tolerates sexual harassment were significant predictors of the sexual harassment of men. Sexual orientation was not a significant predictor alone, although sexual minority men were more likely to engage in feminist activism. Sexual advance and gender harassment were both associated with decreased psychological well-being and job satisfaction, but engaging in feminist activism was protective for men's psychological well-being. These findings support theoretical conceptualizations of sexual harassment as a form of punishment for men who deviate from the prescriptions of traditional masculinity. Our results suggest that organizations would benefit from comprehensive and gender-fair policies and trainings related to workplace sexual harassment.

Do You See What I See? The Consequences of Objectification in Work Settings for Experiencers and Third Party Predictors

“…Finally, we focused on male‐on‐female sexual objectification because women tend to report objectification and harassment to a greater degree than do men (e.g., Berdahl & Aquino, ; Gervais et al., ). However, it is possible that same‐gender sexual objectification such as men targeting other men, a common and increasingly frequent workplace complaint, is seen as sexually harassing, and that even women targeting other women, which is less common, could be a potential workplace problem (Holland, Rabelo, Gustafson, Seabrook, & Cortina, ). These are all important next steps for research.…”

Playing to Win: Male–Male Sex‐Based Harassment and the Masculinity Contest

“…More recently, Holland et al. () found that men who engaged in feminist activism were more likely to become MM‐SBH targets. These examples, extant case law (e.g., Oncale v Sundowner Offshore Servs.…”

“…Berdahl () theorized that these same motivations drive SBH against men, but this has not been empirically demonstrated. Although harassment against men has received much less research attention (Berdahl & Raver, ), it nevertheless occurs, though less frequently than against women, and has deleterious consequences (Berdahl, Magley, & Waldo, ; Fitzgerald, Drasgow, & Magley, ; Holland, Rabelo, Gustafson, Seabrook, & Cortina, ; Konik & Cortina, ; Magley, Waldo, Drasgow, & Fitzgerald, ; Nielsen, Bjørkelo, Notelaers, & Einarsen, ; Stockdale, Visio, & Batra, ; Uggen & Blackstone, ; Waldo, Berdahl, & Fitzgerald, ). Understanding the impetus for this behavior is critical to addressing SBH against men, but despite academic (Berdahl et al., ; Nielsen et al., ) and public (Chandler, ; Scott, ; Yeginsu, ) accounts suggesting its incidence and severity, the psychological mechanisms motivating SBH toward men have not been systematically investigated.…”

Percepción del acoso sexual según los niveles de prejuicio sexista

“…El término acoso sexual incluye lo que en Ciencias Sociales se denomina "acoso de género", es decir, aquellos comportamientos hostiles, insultos y/o actos degradantes que sirven para expresar actitudes insultantes u ofensivas hacia las mujeres (Expósito & Moya, 2005;Holland, Rabelo, Gustafson, Seabrook & Cortina, 2016). Además, el término también incluye la "atención sexual no deseada", haciendo referencia a aquellos actos sexuales ofensivos no deseados y no recíprocos, que abarca conductas verbales como expresiones, chistes y comentarios de doble sentido (Diehl, Rees & Bohner, 2016) y no verbales tales como la mirada objetivante (examinar las partes del cuerpo de otra persona), tocarse indebidamente o presionar a alguien para obtener citas (Expósito y Moya, 2005;Galdi et al, 2013).…”