Summary
Not long ago, a young woman by the name of Barbara Johnson shared her personal experience with sexual harassment. Working at McDonald’s, Johnson began to feel uncomfortable when one of her co-workers spoke to her unprofessionally about her body, as well as his fantasies on how she can pleasure him. Not wanting to tolerate his harassment, Johnson has decided to “keep a low profile” by dressing with loose fitting clothes and discussing with the general manager that her shifts needed to be changed (CBS, 2020). Despite her attempts to stop this, the harassment was getting worse, which led her to quit her job. Shortly after this incident, the Time’s Up Movement began to grow and their defense funds has provided Johnson support by teaming her up with a lawyer (CBS, 2020). With this in mind, it has benefited Johnson by backing her up in court and helping her pay for the fees that involved an attorney, as well as the court. Although she has filed a claim against McDonald’s for being sexually harassed, the fast food restaurant did not mention anything to her, but rather they called Johnson’s experience as a “deeply important conversation for safe and respectable workplaces” (CBS, 2020). This was used to let other employees be aware of possible sexual harassment in a workplace, and that they would commit to fixing the situation. Looking at the bigger picture, the defense fund hopes that within five years their work can pay off by seeing changes to the laws that better handle sexual harassment.
Sociological Reflection
There are many reasons why women are sexually harassed, and due to cultural reasons, women are still seen as “sexual objects that exist for men’s pleasure” (Galta, Chapter 4 Lecture, 2020). In Johnson’s case, she wasn’t seen as a fellow co-worker, instead she was seen as an object that the shift manager believed he was able to take advantage of for his sexual interest. Furthermore, the structural reason on sexual harassment is that “typically the men doing the harassment are in a position of power over the women they harass” (Galta, Chapter 4 Lecture, 2020). The shift manager that was harassing Barbara Johnson was in a higher position at work, therefore assuming that he has more dominance over her and is able to do what he desires. Given Johnson’s experience, sexual harassment should be acted upon, and luckily the Time’s Up Movement has provided young women the support they need to get back on their feet. Their defense fund responds by “including a legal defense fund for lower income women, for those have been sexually harassed” so these women can stand up and feel confident and protected while they make things right and share their stories to help others (Galta, Chapter 4 Lecture, 2020). In the end, while sexual harassment occurs in workplaces, there are resources, such as the Time’s Up Movement, that can support the victims that come across sexual harassment.
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