Sexualised images contribute to workplace harassment

My friend Cordelia Fine had a terrific piece in the SMH and Age yesterday  Feel sorry for Kiely, but pity more his female colleagues in which she makes the case that sexualised images in the workplace undermine women.

Even as psychologists learn more about how gender stereotypes adversely affect women trying to gain ground in male domains, material that primes those very stereotypes and attitudes becomes more common. Pornography is increasing in work settings, according to the Fawcett Society in Britain. And pornography in the workplace, however mild, serves as a signal to women that they are in male space…

The drip, drip, drip effect of male workers viewing porn is the creation of an environment that is hostile and degrading to women – and this is in violation of the Sex Discrimination Act, as human rights lawyer Professor Aileen McColgan pointed out in the Fawcett Society’s recent Corporate Sexism report. But when public responses to transgressions are casual and forgiving, women may be reluctant to complain about their male colleagues’ use of pornography, for fear of seeming prudish. >more