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Reader Feedback on "Flirting With Disaster"
After 20-some odd years in the advertising industry, one wrought with sexual harrassment issues, I've had my share of frustrations in this area. In LA, sexual harrassment issues seemed fairly plain and simple. I never ran into any trouble with flirtations or after work meetings. The harrassment cases I was made aware of which were more than few and far between were restricted to bosses coming on to subordinates physically, and directly demeaning comments designed to devalue a person's position. It was not until moving to Seattle that I was called to HR numerous times. I had been dating a coworker for the first time in my life which I guess was my first mistake. Another girl I flirted with at work came by to say goodnight while I was working late with a team member, let's call him Bob. Later Bob asked me if I was "fucking" two girls at work. We had a laugh about it, thinking we were alone. Next day, I got called to HR to find out that a woman on the other side of a wall heard our little conversation and thought it was a good reason to get me fired. The next time, a couple years later I asked a girl out on a date at a new job. She said no and I respectfully accepted her choice and we went back to a cordial working relationship. I'll spare you all the details but she ended up reporting me to HR with a laundry list of false accusations and charges. Out of these experiences, I've come to realize how to handle sexual harrassment in the workplace. It is not by adhering to any of the unnatural coporate harrassment training manuals or memos but by choosing to stay out of the corporate world. Of course, in the present day corporate society, I could easily be labeled a misogynist. I know for myself the truth is all corporate positioning is driven by financial motives. This is contrary to the human experience which is, on a base level, human! Does that sound silly? I have the utmost respect for women and see all people as equal. Equal in their rights to respectful boundaries and opportunities. Corporations would like nothing more than to have their employees be completely non-sexually driven robots that never get depressed, distracted or horny because those traits translate into loss of profits. I may sound cynical to some people who love their corporate job, but what I've found to work for me has been to work for myself or work for small, laid-back companies that understand that businesses are made up of people; people who feel and breathe and need to find genuine ways to interact with each other in a healthy and human way.
--jb
12/02 |
In the '50's, co-workers fucked each other all over the place. Have a look at "The Apartment", when such behavior was well-established by the early '60's. The guys got reputations as rakes, and the gals were treated as dirty laundry.
How to avoid fucking at work? Might as well avoid fucking.
Aside from asking obvious questions, what was the point of this essay?
--TB
09/23 |
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