The Journal of Applied Psychology recently published an article by this title written by Jennifer Berdahl of the University of Toronto, in which she describes the results of her recent sexual harassment study. She concludes that gender harassment is primarily targeted at those who violate gender ideals. Here is an excerpt:
The original prototype of sexual harassment was a male boss sexually coercing a female subordinate. Sexual harassers were assumed to be motivated by sexual desire for their targets. If sexual harassment is motivated by sexual desire, then the most frequent targets of sexual harassment should be individuals who meet gender ideals. Gender ideals involve both physical and personality characteristics. Personality characteristics desired in men include assertiveness, independence, and dominance; those desired in women include modesty, deference, and warmth. If women are sexually harassed more than men, and if individuals who meet gender ideals are harassed more than those who do not, then women with feminine personalities should be sexually harassed the most.
I suggest that just the opposite is true. The most common form of sexual harassment is gender harassment, a form of hostile environment harassment that appears to be motivated by hostility toward individuals who violate gender ideals rather than by desire for those who meet them.
Read the whole thing here. Via Ann at Feministing.
