From my own life, I thought of another instance of what would be termed sexual harassment if it had been done by a man to a woman. I didnโt consider it such since I didnโt feel threatened by this woman and I had much more power in the company than she did.
This was someone I had been casually interested in at work, and weโd gone out a few times. She wasnโt in my department or anything, but after a little while Iโd realized she was radically dumb and I didnโt really want anything to do with her anymore.
I kept subtly trying to let her down but she wasnโt getting the message.
And then weird things started happening like Iโd go to lunch and when Iโd came back Iโd find her jacket hanging on my desk chair.
โMike, I think sheโs claimed you,โ the woman who sat behind me said.
Or co-workers would tell me that sheโd just sit at my desk while I wasnโt there.
โWell, what does she do?โ Iโd say. โTry to get into my computer?โ
โNo, no,โ theyโd reply. โShe just sits there.โ
Or sheโd show up at my desk while I was there and say things that would embarrass normals. I am incapable of embarrassment, so it didnโt have the intended effect on me, but she tried hard.
One day she came by my desk to visit me while all of my co-workers were there and said something pretty loudly following a relatively normal conversation like, โThis guy I sit next to asked me to suck him off, but I told him Iโd rather suck you.โ
โIโm not sure Iโd stay hard for that,โ I said, not missing a beat.
The few co-workers I could see were nearly vermilion at this point from attempting not to laugh.
The woman turned around and walked away and that pretty much ended that, other than a few mooning emails she sent.
It was too bad because she was really pretty in an Emanuelle Chriqi sort of way, but when she opened her mouth to say anything she didnโt seem so pretty anymore.
Like I said, to me it was not sexual harassment because at that company I had a lot of influence (the head of her department used to by my boss, and he liked me a lot), and I couldโve easily gotten her fired if Iโd wanted to do so.