Vignette Related to Sex Harassment

Sexual Harassment Vignette

We often made jokes about the cinematography teacher, who was among the younger, better looking female staff at the high school. She had long dark hair, dressed stylishly, and subtly showed off her nice body. However, she was an excellent instructor who truly engendered in her students a love for film and filmmaking. We spent a significant portion of our in-class time watching movies, which made for a perfect opportunity for the teacher to leave the room or do her own thing in class.

One day while the class watched a film and Ms. X sat behind her desk reading or grading papers, one of the assistant principles came in for a visit. He was a familiar face around campus and was known to be stern yet funny. I had run into him several times in the hallway and noticed that he has a certain kind of charm. When he walked into class, he immediately approached our teacher and struck up a conversation with her in hushed tones. The two of them exited the room so that they wouldn't interrupt the movie. Soon thereafter I got up to use the washrooms down the hall, and I happened to pass by the teacher lounge, where the two of them were having coffee. Their conversation seemed perfectly innocent and uninteresting so I didn't pay much attention.

However, later that period, as the film was coming to a close, our teacher and the assistant principle returned to the room. She sat behind her desk and he stood towering over her. She obviously wanted to get on with the lesson and was trying to ignore him, giving him the cold shoulder. I noticed she was acting somewhat impatient and began making sarcastic comments to him. He chuckled loudly; her laughs were more uneasy. Finally, I saw him placing his hand on her shoulder, letting it linger there a few moments longer than was necessary under the circumstances. Ms. X casually brushed his hand away, but I could tell she was disturbed.

Because of her inferior position as a teacher, she could not usurp his authority as assistant principle. Moreover, his slight sexual advances, while annoying to her, were not sufficient to cause alarm. She was forced to exhibit a sense of humor and to act conciliatory; to do otherwise might have invited tension and could possible threaten her job in the future. I totally understood her position and sympathized with her, because she obviously knew a power struggle was going on.

A realize that most sexual harassment stems from this type of power struggle: the man is usually in a position of authority and wields that power by intimidating their (usually younger) female colleagues. His advances were too subtle to warrant an official complaint, which makes the harassment even trickier. If it were more cut and dry, she could have possibly done something to prevent future inappropriate behavior. However, in this case there was nothing Ms. X could do but take it. Because he was the assistant principle and she just a young cinematography teacher, it was doubly difficult for her to say or do anything.