Talk, touch, and intolerance: Sexual harassment in an overtly sexualized work culture

Abstract

Based on an ethnographic study of a restaurant called the “Hungry Cowboy,” I examine how servers make use of sexual harassment claims within a sexually overt work culture. Focusing on the dynamics of a specific case, I explore how participation in sexual talk and touch provides positive rewards for some workers, operating as a source of craft pride, while laying the groundwork for exclusion of other workers. This study reveals how intersectionality plays out in the day-to-day behaviors and practices that make up workplace cultures, how white workers use a gendered tool to filter racism, the intentional manipulation of workplace culture by workers, and the unintended outcomes of sexual harassment laws.

Citation

Erickson, K.A. (2010), "Talk, touch, and intolerance: Sexual harassment in an overtly sexualized work culture", Williams, C.L. and Dellinger, K. (Ed.) Gender and Sexuality in the Workplace (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 179-202. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0277-2833(2010)0000020011