Recently in Sexual Harassment Category

Can men be sexually harassed?

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This is a clip from Family Guy from an episode where Peter's boss is sexually harassing him at work. When he tries to bring it up to his family, they say that a man can't be sexually harassed.

Do you think this is true? Have you ever heard of a case where a man was sexually harassed? Do you think this happens more often than we think and just doesn't get reported because of this stereotype? Have any guys ever felt like they were sexually harassed?

I have grown to absolutely abhor the way in which some feel that the word "rape" is appropriate to describe things that aren't rape. To me, it is another example of inappropriate equivocation that cheapens the act of rape. To my knowledge (and the dictionary's) the word "rape" should be used only in two instances. The first is to describe the act of forcible intercourse upon an unwilling individual. The second is to describe a violent seizure, abuse, or plundering of something (i.e. the rape of a countryside). You can see in the examples given in the link that there is, at best, a conflation of the two definitions, and at worst a blatant disrespect for the actual act of person-to-person rape.

http://jezebel.com/5409284/figure-of-speech 

Finally, frequent usage of derogatory or pejorative language has been shown to cause more negative attitudes toward the target of the comment (Simon & Greenberg, 1996). Moreover, there continue to be staggering statistics regarding instances of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence in this country especially in colleges and universities (see RAINN website). None of these statistics includes "President Obama raping the American people's values" "Big businesses being raped" or "the private sector being raped by the government", because those are hyperboles that are being used to shock and therefore desensitize people to the actual issue of rape. This is sexism. This is unreported or confronted sexism. 
April 15 LEADERSHIP AND SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Gwenne Berry, Associate Director, Compliance & Equity Management, UNI
John C. Roadcap, Lt. Colonel and Department Head, Military Science-ROTC, UNI
 
You can attend, or:

ONE CREDIT AVAILABLE
One credit, graduate or undergraduate, offered for this series. Requires attendance and completion of assignments.
Course 680:186:05; registration deadline: Feb. 23, 2010

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Gerri Perreault, 273-6898, or Margaret Corson, 273-2332;
or e-mail YLA@UNI.edu (put leader series in subject line).

I've attended these sessions before. She is a good and knowledgeable presenter. Consider attending!

HARASSMENT PREVENTION SESSIONS:
Attorney Jill Jensen-Welch will present "Preventing Illegal Harassment" on Tuesday, Feb. 16. All employees are strongly encouraged to attend, especially those in supervisory roles. Iowa law and UNI policy will be reviewed. Register for one of two sessions at www.uni.edu/equity. Pre-registration is required. Sponsored by Compliance and Equity Management.
These are two articles regarding the movie "Precious" that is out at select theaters now. It actually won the Sundance Film Festival and has been nominated for several Oscars. The story which is based on the novel PUSH by Sapphire is about a 15 year old girl from Harlem who is overweight, has an abusive mother, and is pregnant with her second child by her father. Stigmas are an important part of this movie, as are poverty, education, and welfare.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120176695

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/25/magazine/25precious-t.html?pagewanted=6&_r=1

Chris Rock SNL Monologue

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Chris Rock covers many topics relevant to our class in this 1996 monologue. Couldn't find a video clip, but here's the transcript. If you know Chris Rock you can 'hear' his voice clearly!

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/96/96emono.phtml