Workplace

More women report hearing sexual innuendo, wisecracks, and taunts at work, said Christopher Farrell in BusinessWeek. According to a phone survey by Novations Group, 38 percent of women said they heard sexually inappropriate comments last year—up from 22 percent in 2006. The number of incidents may not actually be rising; women may just be more willing to report them. Such chatter could also reflect lower social barriers between the sexes, according to University of Mississippi law professor Paul Secunda. Male employees, he says, may be less inclined to censor their remarks because they now view women as their peers.

That leaves women with two choices, said Penelope Trunk in the Toronto National Post. You can file a complaint, or you could ignore the vulgarity. As someone who has successfully climbed the corporate ladder, I’d recommend turning a deaf ear to most forms of harassment. Sexual harassment in the office is indeed a serious problem—and it’s more widespread than many realize. But it’s a plain fact of life that “when women invoke the no-tolerance policy, their names are plastered all over the business pages and they are blacklisted in their industry.” Ultimately, the best way to deal with such behavior may be to work your way into a position of authority, rather than resorting to the courts. “The best way to change the corporate world is to gain power and then wield it.”

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