Contrapower sexual harassment occurs when the target of harassment possesses greater formal organizational power than the perpetrator. Traditional conceptualizations of power underlying sexual harassment have either focused on location within organizational hierarchies or sociocultural status differences between men and women. We suggest the utility of simultaneously considering the influence of gender, race, and class on power dynamics at organizational, sociocultural, and interpersonal or individual levels. Using qualitative data obtained from 8 focus groups, 20 interviews, and 1 in-depth case study, we examine how gender, race, and class influence varied sources of power available to perpetrators and targets in workplace contrapower situations. We argue that the exploration of the dynamics involved in contrapower sexual harassment can illuminate broader processes of doing gender and power in the workplace.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acker, Joan.1990. Hierarchies, jobs, bodies: A theory of gendered organizations.Gender & Society4:139-58.
2.
Benson, Katherine A.1984. Comment on Crocker's “An analysis of university definitions of sexual harassment.”Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society9:516-9.
3.
Chow, Esther N.
1996. Introduction: Transforming knowledgement: Race, class, and gender. In Race, class, & gender: Common bonds, different voices, edited by E. N. Chow, D. Wilkinson, and M. Baca Zinn.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
4.
Cleveland, J. N.
, and M. E. Kerst.1993. Sexual harassment and perceptions of power: An underarticulated relationship.Journal of Vocational Behavior42:49-67.
5.
Collins, Patricia H.
1990. Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment.Boston: Unwin Hyman.
6.
Connell, Robert W.
1995. Masculinities.Berkeley: University of California Press.
7.
Cortina, L. M.
, E. Shupe, A. Ramos, N. T. Buchanan, and O. Trujillo. 1996. ¿Dios mío... qué hacer? Hispanic women's responses to sexual harassment. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Midwestern Psychological Association, May, Chicago.
8.
Davis, Kathy.
1991. Critical sociology and gender relations. In The gender of power, edited by K. Davis, M. Leijenaar, and J. Oldersma.London: Sage.
9.
DiTomaso, Nancy.
1993. Sexuality in the workplace: Discrimination and harassment. In The sexuality of organization, edited by J. Hearn, D. L. Sheppard, P. Tancred-Sheriff, and G. Burrell.London: Sage.
10.
Dugger, Karen.1988. Social location and gender-role attitudes: A comparison of black and white women.Gender & Society2:425-48.
11.
Farley, L.
1978. Sexual shakedown: The sexual harassment of women on the job.New York: Warner Books.
12.
Ferree, M. M.
, and E. J. Hall.1996. Rethinking stratification from a feminist perspective: Gender, race, and class in mainstream textbooks.American Sociological Review61:929-50.
13.
Fitzgerald, L. F.
, F. Drasgow, and M. Gelfand. 1993. Sexual Experiences Questionnaire, Form W (E). Unpublished research scale. Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
14.
French, J.R.P.
, and B. Raven. 1959. The bases of social power. In Studies in social power, edited by D. Cartwright.Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
15.
Gardner, Carol B.
1995. Passing by: Gender and public harassment.Berkeley: University of California Press.
16.
Giuffre, P. A.
, and C. L. Williams.1994. Boundary lines: Labeling sexual harassment in restaurants.Gender & Society8:378-401.
17.
Grauerholz, Elizabeth.1989. Sexual harassment of women professors by students: Exploring the dynamics of power, authority, and gender in a university setting.Sex Roles21:789-801.
18.
Gruber, J.
, and L. Bjorn.1986. Women's responses to sexual harassment: An analysis of sociocultural, organizational, and personal resource models.Social Science Quarterly67:814-26.
19.
Gutek, Barbara A.
1985. Sex and the workplace.San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
20.
Gutek, B. A.
, and V. Dunwoody. 1987. Understanding sex in the workplace. In Women and work: An annual review, edited by A. H. Stromberg, L. Larwood, and B. A. Gutek.London: Sage.
21.
Gutek, B. A.
, and B. Morasch.1982. Sex-ratios, sex-role spillover, and sexual harassment of women at work.Journal of Social Issues38:55-74.
22.
Hall, M.
1989. Private experiences in the public domain: Lesbians in organizations. In The sexuality of organization, edited by J. Hearn, D. L. Sheppard, P. Tancred-Sheriff, and G. Burrell.London: Sage.
23.
Hoffman, F. L.1986. Sexual harassment in academia: Feminist theory and institutional practice.Harvard Educational Review56:105-21.
24.
Kanter, Rosabeth M.
1977. Men and women of the corporation.New York: Basic Books.
25.
Lafontaine, E.
, and L. Tredeau.1986. The frequency, sources, and correlates of sexual harassment among women in traditional male occupations.Sex Roles15:433-42.
Lorber, Judith.1996. Beyond the binaries: Depolarizing the categories of sex, sexuality, and gender.Sociological Inquiry66:143-59.
28.
MacKinnon, Catherine.
1979. Sexual harassment of working women.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
29.
Majors, R.
, and J. M. Billson. 1992. Cool pose: The dilemmas of black manhood in America.New York: Lexington Books.
30.
Martin, Susan E.
1989. Sexual harassment: The link joining gender stratification, sexuality, and women's economic status. In Women: A feminist perspective, edited by J. Freeman.Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.
31.
McKinney, K.1994. Sexual harassment and college faculty members.Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal15:171-91.
32.
Mechanic, David.1962. Sources of power of lower participants in complex organizations.Administrative Science Quarterly7:349-64.
33.
Oaks, R.
, and J. Landrum-Brown. 1997. Cross-cultural issues and influences. In Sexual harassment on campus: A guide for administrators, faculty, and students, edited by B. R. Sandler and R. J. Shoop.Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
34.
Patterson, Orlando.
1995. The crisis of gender relations among African Americans. In Race, gender, and power in America, edited by A. F. Hill and E. C. Jordan.New York: Oxford University Press.
35.
Pyke, Karen D.1996. Class-based masculinities: The interdependence of gender, class, and interpersonal power.Gender & Society10:527-49.
36.
Ragins, B. R.
, and E. Sundstrom.1989. Gender and power in organizations: A longitudinal perspective.Psychological Bulletin105:51-88.
37.
Richman, J. A.
, K. M. Rospenda, S. J. Nawyn, and J. A. Flaherty.1997. Workplace harassment and the self-medication of distress: A conceptual model and case illustrations.Contemporary Drug Problems24:179-200.
38.
Rosenberg, J.
, H. Perlstadt, and W.R.F. Phillips.1993. Now that we are here: Discrimination, disparagement, and harassment at work and the experience of women lawyers.Gender & Society7:415-33.
39.
Stringer, D. M.
, H. Remick, J. Salisbury, and A. B. Ginorio.1990. The power and reasons behind sexual harassment: An employer's guide to solutions.Public Personnel Management19:43-52.
40.
Tangri, S.
, M. Burt, and L. Johnson.1982. Sexual harassment at work: Three explanatory models.Journal of Social Issues38:33-54.
41.
Tresemer, D.
1975. Assumptions made about gender roles. In Another voice: Feminist perspectives on social life and social science, edited by M. Millman and R. M. Kanter.Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.
42.
University of Illinois at Chicago.
1996. Prohibiting sexual harassment: Policies and procedures (Executive Notice 96-1). Chicago: Author.
43.
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
1981. Sexual harassment of federal workers: Is it a problem?Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
44.
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board.
1987. Sexual harassment of federal workers: An update.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
45.
Waldo, C. R.
, J. L. Berdahl, and L. F. Fitzgerald. 1995. Who is sexual harassing men and why? Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Women in Psychology, March, Indianapolis.
46.
West, C.
, and S. Fenstermaker.1995. Doing difference.Gender & Society9:8-37.
47.
West, C.
, and D. H. Zimmerman.1987. Doing gender.Gender & Society1:125-51.
