Sexuality in the Workplace: Organizational Control, Sexual Harassment, and the Pursuit of Pleasure

Flirting, bantering, and other sexual interactions are commonplace in work organizations. Not all of these interactions constitute harassment or assault; consensual sexual relationships, defined as those reflecting positive and autonomous expressions of workers' sexual desire, are also prevalen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annual review of sociology 1999-01, Vol.25 (1), p.73-93
Main Authors: Williams, Christine L., Giuffre, Patti A., Dellinger, Kirsten
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Careers
Employment
Federal court decisions
Feminism
Gays and lesbians
Gender
Gender discrimination
Human sexual behavior
Industrial sociology
Men
Opposite Sex Relations
Oppression
Pleasure
Prisons
Sex crimes
Sex discrimination
Sex in the workplace
Sexism
Sexual Behavior
Sexual consent
Sexual Harassment
Sexuality
Sexuality. Marriage. Family relations
Sociology
Sociology of the family. Age groups
Special counsels
Trials
United States of America
Women
Work Environment
Working conditions
Working women
Workplaces
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Summary:Flirting, bantering, and other sexual interactions are commonplace in work organizations. Not all of these interactions constitute harassment or assault; consensual sexual relationships, defined as those reflecting positive and autonomous expressions of workers' sexual desire, are also prevalent in the workplace and are the focus of this paper. We begin by reviewing research on the distinction between sexual harassment and sexual consent. Next we examine popular and business literatures on office romance. Finally we discuss sociological research on consensual sexual relationships, including research on mate selection, organizational policy, and workplace culture. We argue that sexual behaviors must be understood in context, as an interplay between organizational control and individual agency.
ISSN:0360-0572
1545-2115
DOI:10.1146/annurev.soc.25.1.73