Sexual Harassment in the Workplace is about Power and Authority rather than Sex

Unwelcome sexual approaches made toward a person are a common definition of sexual harassment, which continues to be one of the most touchy subjects in the workplace. The latter since this is the only location where such crimes are known to occur and are frequently reported in silence. The word "sexual harassment" refers to a problem that has historically been associated with having sex. Recent research, nevertheless, suggests that there is more to it than just physical intercourse. That is why it continues to occur despite workplace policies and rules intended to help stop it. The power and authority associated with sexual harassment are one of the important ways of looking into the problem. This paper argues that sexual harassment in the workplace is more of an issue of power/authority as opposed to actual sex because of the following reasons.
According to (McLaughlin, Uggen and Blackstone), the "power-threat" model can help with the understanding of how authority is associated with the issue. Within this model, there is the analysis as to why women in power are still subjected to sexual harassment. One would expect that when women hold authoritative positions in the workplace such as being the manager, supervisor or even the CEO, they are still reports that they are victims of sexual harassment. As such, (McLaughlin, Uggen and Blackstone) through the model emphasize that this occurs because men feel threatened.
In a perfect society and based on our cultural norms, it is men who have always held power positions in the workplace. However, as times evolve and female empowerment becomes more of a reality, we find that there is now an increase of women in authority. To the male species, this is seen as a direct challenge to the "presumptive superiority of men" (Blay). In a way, it can be explained that men feel their masculinity being challenged by women in power positions in the workplace. Therefore, to protect their masculinity, they result in sexual harassment as a means of reverting the power back to them.
It is a stereotypical belief that men should have more power than women under every circumstance. That is why sexual harassment in the workplace, an environment that is fast evolving, is no longer about actual sex (Neville). The power-threat model demonstrates a situation where the one dominating males feel threatened by the female species and in order to feel powerful and in control; sexual harassment remains to be the only solution to them.
Another reason as to why sexual harassment in the workplace is about authority is due to the notion of having power over the subordinate. It is more of a culture that has escalated to allow the problem to be ignored, covered up or encouraged under diverse circumstances. Berlatsky explains that those in power positions in the workplace will often feel the need to abuse their power as a means of showing who is in control. This is a phenomenon that is highly witnessed in most of the harassment cases that have been reported.
Being in power means one has influence over their subordinates and will most likely use it to their advantage. This is why situational factors within the office space will favor those in power to carry out sexual harassment just because they feel like they can. Furthermore, (Slaughter) explains that it is a lot worse because it is a male-dominated culture to be sexually aggressive. Being that it is in the nature of men to collective behaved in the manner to show social dominance, the workplace vice becomes more of a power thing than actual sex.
There is also the reason for wanting to show power over subordinates in the case of women who have been accused of sexual harassment. Blay writes that women in power can sometimes choose to be sexually aggressive towards their subordinates because they want to prove a point. Going by the first reason of women holding authoritative ranks in the workplace and how we are naturally wired by the society to think of men and female roles; at times, women in such positions are not taken as seriously as their counterparts, men are. Therefore, by the need to show who is in control and that they too can be as tough or act like men, women in power can show sexual aggression to emphasize their authority and not because of actual sex.
Blay explains this as the "objectification of a victim, emphasizing their role as a helpless subordinate." The same is also true to men who have been accused of sexual harassment within the workplace. What this means is that the person in power, be it a man or woman, tend to use what they have to assert control and intimidate their subordinates by showing they are the boss and can do anything they want. Through this, we understand why women are now being accused of the vice while it was mostly men who were reported to act with such aggression.
Lastly, it can be argued that the systems in place allow for those in power to be sexually aggressive towards their subordinates. Having mentioned above about the workplace culture, it should be noted that in most instances, it is the authoritative figure that will define and help establish the culture. Over the years, sexual harassment in the workplace has somehow been covered, permitted and encouraged due to the systems that have been adopted with those in authority. As such, reporting such incidents end up bearing no fruits or leading to more victimization because it is those in management who are the perpetrators and they can use their positions to manipulate the systems to their favor.
In conclusion, it all comes down to the kind of authority one has in the workplace for them to be sexually aggressive towards a coworker. As explained above, power takes precedence over actual sex as a reason for sexual harassment because it is used to show basically who is in charge of the situation and circumstances. Given so, it is the reason men are sexually aggressive to females because they want to show dominance due to cultural perspective, masculinity and to show social charge. Females on the other hand use power to prove that they too can equally be in charge and this is more so true in a feminist encouraged environment. Based on the above, sexual harassment should not be considered from the point of it being about the actual sex act given that if that was the case, some of the cases we have heard of would never have occurred. Power or authority is the force that is encouraging the vice in today's workplace environments even with all the policies and regulations that are meant to prevent it from happening.







Works Cited
Berlatsky, Noah. "It's time to stop worshiping powerful men." Quartz, 14 Oct 2017. Web. 23 Nov 2017 https://qz.com/1102376/its-time-to-stop-worshipping-powerful-men/
Blay, Zeba. "Sexual Harassment Isn't About Sex, It's About Power." Huffington Post, 23 Mar 2017. Web. 23 Nov 2017. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sexual-harassment-isnt-about-sex-its-about-power_us_58d13b9fe4b00705db52c340
McLaughlin, Heather., Christopher Uggen and Amy Blackstone. "Sexual Harassment, Workplace Authority and the Paradox of Power." Am Sociol Rev 77:4 (2012). https://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F0003122412451728
Neville, Kathleen. Internal Affairs: The Abuse of Power, Sexual harassment, and Hypocrisy in the Workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill (2000).
Slaughter, Anne-Marie. "Sexual harassment is rooted in power imbalances." Financial Times, 26 Oct 2017. Web. 23 Nov 2017 https://www.ft.com/content/1d624ee0-b8af-11e7-bff8-f9946607a6ba