Transcript Gender, Sexism, and Sexual Harassment

Gender, Sexism, and
Sexual Harassment
Lawrence M. Hinman, Ph.D.
University of San Diego
7/16/2015
Director, The Values Institute
(c) Lawrence M. Hinman
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Five Questions
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What is the present state?
What is the ideal state?
What is the minimally acceptable
state?
How do we get from the present to
the minimally acceptable state?
How do we get from the minimum to
the ideal state?
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Developing a Moral Stance
Here’s a way of visualizing these issues:
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Question #1:
The Present State
Several issues arise in regard to the present
state of women in society:
 Sex Discrimination and Economic
inequality
 Sexual Harassment
 Degradation of women
– Sexist language
– Pornography
– Rape and sexual intimidation
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1a. Sex Discrimination
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Sex discrimination involves treating
people differently only because of
their gender.
– Overt job discrimination
– Comparable worth
– Glass ceiling
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Gender-based Salary Differences
This is a typical picture of salary differences by age groups.
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Gender-based Salary Differences,
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1951: $.63 on the dollar
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1973: $.56
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1999: $.72
2003: $.80 on the dollar
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http://www.dol.gov/dol/wb/public/wb_pubs/achart.htm
http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2000.pdf
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http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2003.pdf
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Factors in Salary Differences
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The older the woman, the greater the
salary differential
Women are more likely than their male
counterparts to have:
– Taken time off to raise a family
– Worked part time instead of full time
– To choose a job that interferes less with family
time
– To refuse to relocate to accept a promotion
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The Comparable Worth Issue
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Typically, occupations dominated by women are
paid less than comparable occupations
dominated by men.
– Maintenance workers vs. maids.
– For many years, this was an issue with elementary
school teachers, secretaries, and other occupations in
which the workforce is predominantly female.
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Some feminists have urged comparable pay for
comparable occupations, but this has been
difficult given market forces.
Also, women’s services (dry cleaning, hair
styling, alterations, etc.) are often more costly
than comparable men’s services.
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The Glass Ceiling
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The Glass Ceiling report detailed
ways in which women were not
allowed to ascend to the highest
rungs in the corporate ladder.
Many factors contribute to this,
including age cohort, men’s clubs,
etc.
http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/glassceiling/
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A Global Perspective
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Although wage gaps between men and
women are diminishing in the United
States and other industrialized nations, in
many countries throughout the world the
plight of women is far worse:
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Forced marriages
Conditions near servitude
Girls being sold into prostitution
Higher instances of infanticide of girl babies
Barriers to education
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Overt and Institutional Sexism
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Consider the issue of physical
requirements in the military
– Should they be the same for men and
women?
– Were they originally developed with just
men in mind and thus emphasizing
typically masculine types of strength?
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Sexual Harassment
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The phrase did not exist prior to
1964
What exactly is sexual
harassment?
– Narrow Sense:
• Unwelcome pressure on a person
• to engage in sexual activity
– Broader sense
• Hostile work environment
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Sexual Harassment, 2
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In 1980, the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission issued
guidelines defining sexual harassment as
"unwelcome sexual advances, requests
for sexual favors and other verbal or
physical conduct of a sexual nature" when
they are either a condition of employment
or when they become so much a part of
the work environment that they interfere
with a person's ability to perform the job.
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Sexual Harassment, 3
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The Supreme Court unanimously accepted sexual
harassment as a form of sex discrimination in a
1986 case in which a bank employee, Mechelle
Vinson said that her supervisor at the Meritor
Savings Bank of Washington, had forced her into
sexual relations, and that she had gone along
only because he was her supervisor. Even if
unwelcome sexual demands were not linked to
specific employment benefits, the court said,
sexual harassment that is "sufficiently severe or
pervasive" to create "a hostile or abusive work
environment" violates the law.
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Sexual Harassment, 4
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In 1993, the Supreme Court broadened the
law, ruling that sexual harassment claims
do not require a showing that the victim
was psychologically damaged or unable to
perform the job. Any workplace
environment that "would reasonably be
perceived, and was perceived," as
sexually hostile or abusive would be
actionable, the court said: A woman need
not wait until she has a nervous
breakdown.
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Sexual Harassment, 5
Distinguish among
– Intention
– Action
– The way it was perceived
– The consequences, especially for the
harassee
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Sexual Harassment, 6
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Questions to ask
– Was it intentional?
– If not intentional, should the harasser
have known better?
– Was it reasonable for the harassee to
perceive this as harassment?
– Who judges whether it was
harassment?
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Degradation of Women
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Sexist language
Pornography
Rape and sexual intimidation
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Sexist Language
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Consider terms that treat women as
children
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A scene from the movie “Tootsie”
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Sexist Language, 2
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Consider vocabulary differential,
such that the same qualities are
appraised differently in men and
women
– “aggressive” vs. “assertive”
– “stud” vs. “slut”
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Sexist Language, 3
Consider obscene language
– Verbs of sexual intercourse are
usually synonymous with verbs of
hurting
– In active voice constructions, those
same verbs when applied to sexual
intercourse usually take a masculine
subject and a female direct object.
– Implication: Sex is something in
which men hurt women
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Rape and Violence Against
Women
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Issues:
– Women are much more at risk for rape
than men are, except perhaps some
men in prison.
– Date rape
– Standard of proof in courtrooms
– Larger context of approval of violence
against women
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Violence against Women Act
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Arguing the Violence Against Women Act: Two Views.
A live webcast discussion featuring:
Professor Charles Fried and
Professor Catharine MacKinnon
Moderated by Berkman Fellow Diane Rosenfeld
Online Discussion Moderated by Professor Jack Balkin
May 1, 2000 - 7:30pm - Ames Courtroom, Harvard Law
School
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http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/vaw/
Congressional act: “All persons within the United States shall
have the right to be free from crimes of violence motivated by
gender.”
The Supreme Court overturned the law as unconstitutional 5-4.
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Pornography
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Depicts women solely as sexual
objects and objects of violence
Conflict: freedom of speech
Catharine MacKinnon: words are a
form of action, thus should be
banned.
– For a brief bio of MacKinnon, see:
– http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/mack.htm
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Reproductive Rights
Many feminists maintain that one of
the ways in which women are treated
unequally depends on reproduction.
This can be offset by:
 Pregnancy control
 Abortion
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Question #3:
The Ideal State
Three competing models for
understanding the place of gender in
society:
 The Traditional Model
 The Androgynous Model
 The Maximal Choice Model
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3a. The Traditional Model
Father Knows
Best:
The traditional
model emphasizes a
wife who is a
“homemaker” and a
father who is the
“breadwinner” and
“head” of the family.
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A scene from “Father
Knows Best,” a popular
television show in the
mid-fifties.
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3b. The Androgynous Model
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This model seeks to have men and
women treated completely the same
– Nobody would receive a special
advantage or disadvantage on the basis
of gender.
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This model recognizes that there are
differences between men and
women, but doesn’t consider them to
be significant—like eye color.
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3c. The Maximal Choice Model
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All occupations should be equally
open to both men and women;
individuals can freely choose what
they want to be.
Is it necessary to provide some
positive role models to make
professions a realistic possibility to
everyone?
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