posted 06-07-2001 16:26            

I heard this story mentioned on CNN yesterday and it just pissed me off to no end.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sexual harassment is rampant in the school environment, according to a survey released Wednesday of some 2,000 students in the eighth through 11th grades.


Four out of five students responding to the survey commissioned by the American Association of University Women said they felt some type of sexual harassment in school, describing incidents ranging from innuendo and unwanted groping, to forced removal of clothing.

What I want to know is, how in the hell do they define "sexual harassment"? Obviously not the same way I do, nor the same way that Dictionary.com does. Because, you know, according to that definition, it's kinda hard for students to harass each other. The supervisory advantage isn't there. Yes yes, I know that the definition states "especially by one in a superior or supervisory position," but think about it.

These kids are in high school. High School. And what's the main idea of high school? To get laid. Well, actually, no, that's just secondary to actually figuring out how other people operate. High school is a very fun and difficult time. Most kids (myself included) try to figure out what the hell is going on in the minds of other people --- why they do what they do, why they're attracted to who they are, etc. It's the maturing process coupled with shitloads of hormones. Which is the way it should be.

In high school I flirted like mad. I purposefully sat next to chicks just to smell them (and be obvious about it --- because, honestly, chicks smell damned good), or look down their shirts, or rampantly hit on them. And most guys I know did the same thing, just to varying degrees. High school is the time to figure out how to interact with other people; or rather, figure out how to impress the people you want to impress. If I hadn't been slapped so many times for my Pen taking over my brain I'd never've learned that women generally don't like guys who slip their tongues in their ears without asking first.

But those kids, in that study, are living in a whole other climate. It's not about experimentation, or discovery; high school is now about liability and blame. And why should they think otherwise? Adults, the media, they're all forcing these ideas on the students. But think about the consequences: kids get scared of hitting on other kids, thus not learning crucial social skills. They go to college, where the aura of lawsuits is even more prevalent. After college they're in Real Life, lacking the knowledge of how to talk to other people, how to find mates and partners. So what are we raising? A generation of ill-equipped pseudogeeks that have only a lifetime of humiliation and embarassment to look forward to. So what do you think?

posted 06-07-2001 18:41            

quote:

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Originally posted by seonaidh:
Sexual Harassment consists of UNWANTED sexual advances. While I agree with a good portion of what you're saying, nothing makes unwanted sexual advances acceptable, whether in high school, college, Real Life, etc.

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No no no. Hitting on someone is not sexual harassment. Goddamn why do fucking Politically Correct freaks have to sterilize every aspect of life? Why do they have to get kids to think that they're victims in high school?

Unwanted sexual advances are perfectly acceptable. You have highlighted the point of my post. If you can't make unwanted sexual advances, how in the hell are you ever gonna find out if the people you want to hit on are going to respond? Please.

A pattern of unwanted sexual advances, or sexual advances used as leverage in a job, constitutes sexual harassment. Plain ol' hitting on people and flirting does not. Especially in high school. it's a bunch of reactionary and hyper-sensitive bullshit, that study. Give me a fucking break.

And they include "forcibly removing clothing" in sexual harassment. NO NO NO. That is sexual assault, something completely different. if you have no sense of fun or humor or adventure, that is.

posted 06-07-2001 19:13         

quote:

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Originally posted by MightyMon:
And they include "forcibly removing clothing" in sexual harassment. NO NO NO. That is sexual assault, something completely different. if you have no sense of fun or humor or adventure, that is.

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I agree with Mon completely. I just wish I went to his High School.

posted 06-07-2001 21:59            

The only thing you're arguing about (and the only problem mighty had with the article) is the definition of terms like "sexual harassment", "sexual advance", and so on. These are vague terms, with no accepted denotation, and loads of connotation.

I think you'll find, tho, that you really basically agree with one another.

posted 06-07-2001 23:02            

I agree with MightyMon for the most part, but I disagree with your definition of unwanted sexual advances. Hitting on someone is not sexual harrassment, unless you are in a position of authority over them, but sexual advances are not limited to hitting on someone. If you hit on someone, and they turn you down, you're not likely to keep bugging them, or at least you'll find a more discreet way to do it. If you are turned down, and then continue in the same manner, despite the object of your desire telling you no, you're harrassing them. That's all there is to it.

I have been sexually harrassed, and I have been hit on, two completely different things. I don't think that being sexually harrassed means that you need to file suit against anyone, or have them disciplined, as long as you can take care of it yourself. I had no problems while I was in the Army (an environment where women are harrassed often), I did have one guy who really thought that I would want to sleep with him just for the experience of being with a black guy. When I let him know in no uncertain terms that I was not interested in his member, and never would be, he didn't stop, but it became a lot more humorous, and less offensive. Women need to understand that the way you cope with it makes a huge difference in the outcome. It's really bad when your male counterparts are afraid to tell you that you look nice in that sweater because you might sue them. If you go at it humorously, you're less likely to put the fear of the court into guys, and more likely to become friends and end the offensive behavior. There are however, some guys who don't get the message, these, you tell off quickly, and with no doubt about where you're coming from. If they persist, then and only then do you involve anyone else.

The issue about forcibly removing clothing... I'm not sure what they mean by that. When I was in school people were relieved of their pants quite often, not as a sexual assault, but because it was funny to our sick twisted adolescent minds. Is that really harrassment? Kids in my school did that to just about everyone, regardless of whether they were friends or not, it was a joke, and if kids are being prosecuted for it now, that's way more ridiculous that anything I've heard of so far.

I'm done writing my book, even though I don't feel as if I've been all too coherent, that's been happening a lot lately, oh well.