Sexual Harassment Workplace Authority and The Paradox of Power

According to McLaughlin, Uggen, and Blackstone (2012), gender differences, which translate to gender inequalities, in the workplace have been associated with sexual harassment and especially when power is an antecedent factor. The society allows hegemonic masculinity, which is situated with particular normative behavior; hence, some men are vulnerable to harassment if they are thought to be feminine, and the gay community is a good example. Poor gender relations in the workplace tends to thwart progress because a woman who challenges a fellow man counterpart might a target of sexual harassment. Therefore, women might become reserved and disregard getting actively involved in the workplace’s affairs. Instead of concentrating on achieving organizational goals and objectives, men often turn the workplace into a political zone as women, especially in higher positions, become targets of sexual harassment as men seek dominance.
Data was obtained from the longitudinal Youth Development Study to understand sexual harassment in reference to gender. Based on this study by McLaughlin et al. (2012), it was apparent that females in leadership positions faced more harassment than those in the subordinate levels. However, the type of harassment was different, but all in all, this type of behavior tends to have negative implications in a majority of cases. Whereas the women in lower levels in the workplace had to deal with suggestive gazes and unwelcome touches from their male counterparts, the abilities of the women supervisors were challenged.

As a woman supervisor, it becomes difficult to get the work done as men will do everything they can to belittle the woman using threats that result in reduced performance. Evidently, the peer relations within the workplace are strained as women feel threatened and have to put up with derogative remarks on a daily basis to maintain their jobs.