Gendered Public Policies Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

1. Gendered Public Policies Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

2. computer-mediated communication allows for anonymity, and it can allow for greater participation across the boundaries of gender, class and race but … it is also a fertile ground for aggression

3. and therefore … the need for public policies, for netiquette, for socializing the public spaces in the electronic environment

4. Gendered Discourse in Electronic Media • What is your experience with computer-mediated communication? List some examples of when one is able to act anonymously? • How is that liberating for an individual? How is that constraining? • What is the liberating / constraining effect on women as participants? • List social controls that you familiar with in the electronic environment? What are the differences / similarities with f2f communication?

5. Gender and Electronic Environments the assumptions • women outnumber men in the workforce, but men make up the large majority of high-level administrative positions • women are less represented in computer science and engineering, while they are well-represented as users • women are making numerous important contributions to the computer field and in on-line communities and the proportion of their contributions continues to rise • however just as in our larger society, public and professional space on-line remains male-dominated • on-line communication is male-dominated and male-oriented • participation in the computer world is segregated according to sex

6. Gendered Discourse in Electronic Media • Public spaces and the electronic environments • Censorship / free speech • Liberatory prospects for electronic writing spaces (anonymity, gender identity can be shifted; still, these are social spaces; how to create society online) • Online harassment • How to identify it and how to act? • Ferganchick-Neufang: Harassment on-line • Brail: The Price of Admission • Dibbell: A Rape in Cyberspace

7. Harassment on-line? • What do women encounter online? How does that affect them? (Brail: The Price of Admission) • How can the electronic medium perpetuate sexism & violence against women? (Brail; Dibbell) • What can we do? • Who needs to act? What are the sanctions? How to act? (Ferganchick-Neufang)

8. Brail: The Price of Admission • Interpret the title of this article in terms of issues surrounding the Internet: • what is ‘the price of admission’ and for whom • explain ‘harassment / free speech’ dichotomy • ‘Wild, Wild West’ metaphor and how it applies to cyberspace (5 years ago, now, the future) • What are the specifics of Brail’s story? • How is this relevant for understanding women’s experience with computer-mediated communication? • Give examples from the media or own experience that deal with similar issues.

9. Dibbell: The Rape in Cyberspace • If it is possible to change identity online, and that experience is liberating, why is it possible to conceive of a ‘rape in cyberspace’? • What is the story of this article? • Comment on the following statement: “Internet is not real’ -- it is only words’? To what degree is that true? • Does the fact that harassment happens in a ‘virtual’ world make it ‘virtual harassment’?

10. Ferganchick-Neufang: Harassment on-line legal definition of sexual harassment • Sexual harassment is legally defined as any unwelcome sexual advance, behavior, or conduct in any aspect of employment, housing, or academia that creates an intimidating or hostile environment. • There are two types of sexual harassment: "Quid-pro-quo" (this-for-that), and "hostile environment".

11. Ferganchick-Neufang: Harassment on-line three scenarios for the workplace recognized by law (a) Submission to sexual conduct or demand is, directly or indirectly, a condition of employment (b) Submission to sexual conduct or demand is, directly or indirectly, a condition for employment decisions such as promotion or a raise (c) Submission to such conduct results in interference with work performance or creates a hostile or intimidating work environment

12. Ferganchick-Neufang: Harassment on-line conditions for defining sexual harassment • definition relates to situations in which the person who claims harassment must necessarily be in a position of less institutional authority than her or his aggressor (an employer, for example, cannot be dependent upon an employee for conditions of employment; nor can an employer be dependent upon an employee for promotions and raises) • the issue of institutional authority of the aggressor is taken for granted but there may be reverse situations • "bottom-up" or "contra-power" harassment simply does not exist but it is useful (in gender perspective) to consider such cases as well

13. Ferganchick-Neufang: Harassment on-line contra-power harassment cases • Research has shown that institutional authority does not level the playing field between men and women (discourse analysis examples: female employer-to-male employee, female doctor-to-male patient) • Even when attaining a position of authority women can be at an authoritative disadvantage • Disadvantage women have in the real world is not eliminated in virtual space • Ferganchick-Neufang study student-to-teacher harassment in the virtual writing environments (contra-power)

14. Ferganchick-Neufang: Harassment on-line What can we do? • Temper optimism with critical analysis • Train and prepare instructors • Train students • Create and enforce a discipline plan • Ensure safe and supportive administration • Masculine space / feminine spaces

15. Gendered Public Policies: Case Studies & Role--playing exercise • Read 2-3 group members enact an event that would fall into the category of sexual harassment according to the definition (use role-playing technique) • have 1-2 group members identify specific elements of the written policy and apply them to the situation (scope including discussion of gray areas, definition, behaviors) • have 1-2 group members suggest a course of action (and all the steps that would be taken according to the policy statement) • The policy statement may be accessed at http://uhr.rutgers.edu/uhce/h-sexual-harassment.html

16. Preparation for the Visual Essay assignment: Understanding the principles of design and story-telling online