From: chdunn@cco.caltech.EDU (Christopher Dunn)
Subject: Sexual Harassment in NY Assembly
Newsgroups: soc.feminism
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Date: 25 Jan 93 23:52:17 GMT

[This op-ed appeared in the New York Times on Saturday, January 23, 1993.]

by Sheryl E. Reich

Crying Wolf in Albany

A New York State Assemblywoman, Earlene Hill, says she was harassed by
male colleagues in the Assembly.  Her claims were reported last week
in the press, accompanied by announcements of sensitivity training in
the Assembly and "isn't-it-terribles" all around.  But if the label
"sexual harassment" is accepted for the actions described by Ms. Hill,
it trivializes a very serious matter.

These were the three incidents that undid Ms. Hill: An Assemblyman
misspoke during a speech, using the work "sex" instead of "six".  To
cover himself, he joked, "When I see Earlene, I think of sex."  The
second involved Ms. Hill's request that an assemblyman move his legs
so she could get to her assigned seat.  He refused, telling her she
had to climb over him.  Ms. Hill says a third assemblyman threatened
to toss her out a window if she declined to have sex with him.

These acts are not really sexual harassment.  All three were
supposedly perpetrated by people with no power over Ms. Hill.  The men
were not in a position to deprive her of anything to which she was
entitled, not did they threaten to do so.

Unless stupid comments become so frequent and widespread that a woman
cannot do her job, they are nothing more than insensitive remarks.
For the most part, they are bad "come-on" lines.  The normal price for
bad come-on lines is failure.  If bad enough, the price may be social
ostracism by one's higher-minded colleagues.  But such behavior is not
recognized by the law as a violation of any protected right, nor
should it be.

If women want to be in the legislature, the courtroom, and the
boardroom, they had better get used to treatment that varies from
behavior idealized in the 19th century parlor novels.  Woman who want
to be treated only like ladies are not going to do well when wrestling
with serious issues.

In 15 years of practicing law, I have had to resolve problems with
many difficult people -- from judges to chief executive officers to
jailers.  I would expect my clients to question my ability to handle
their problems capably if I couldn't deal with a guy who won't move
his legs so I could get by.

One appropriate response to the fellow who said he thought of sex when
he saw Assemblywoman Hill might have been, "That's funny, that's the
last thing I think of when I see you."  The second incident is even
easier.  High heels are a horible thing to have been perpetrated on
women -- bad for the back, feet, and Achilles' tendons.  But because
they concentrate tremendous [pressure] in the tiny heel, they work
marvelously well for getting people to move over; anyone groping for
that last-minute seat at a movie knows that.

The threatened defenestration of Ms. Hill is obviously more serious.
If the threat was real, or if she perceived it as real, it comes under
the definition of attempted rape, and she should have reported it to
the police.  Ms.  Hill did not do so.  And since she didn't submit to
the alleged demand and wasn't tossed out the window, it sounds like
yet another bad come-on line; clearly she understood it as such.  A
suggestion that the assemblyman himself jump out the window may have
been apropos.

Loutish men say stupid things, to each other and to anyone who is
around.  Presumably, most men and women who do not act like jerks set
the tone in an institution.  But if that does not happen, we can't
dwell on every indiscretion: there are too many important things to
deal with.

Ms. Hill said she hoped that by making a public disclosure, "I have
helped others."  But it is no help to women to popularize the notion
that sexual harassment exists whenever someone is rude.  Indeed, it
harms women who attempt to bring real sexual harassment complaints in
a world numbed by nonsensical claims like these.

[Sheryl E. Reich is a lawyer.]

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