Literature Review & Bibliography

J’Nia Cox-Royster

Prof. Landweber

GSWS 402-Senior Seminar

Research Proposal

February 19, 2018

Sexual Harassment & Power Trump Related

Sexual harassment is a discrimination crime for which often its undertones are directly linked to the need for control over a certain person or group of people. It is often considered that over the years as a means for which power is acquired over these positions therefore putting them in a vulnerable position. At times, the group of people or individuals whose these crimes are committed against them are already in a vulnerable position and often have no alternative than to let this crime be done upon them. Sexual harassment at the workplace and the authority involvement coupled with power has been said to be the underlying factor of many feminists’ claims of sexual harassment (McLaughlin et al., 2012). This question has raised the issue for more direct studies and the process enabled development of policies and more legal measures in which the problem can be addressed forcing the act to be criminalized and sensitization to be a key factor in activism.

Similarly, the inclusion of the problem in the development of human resource policies and the inclusion of these aspects to the ethical codes at workplaces has provided a basis for which recognition of these crimes. The implication of these crimes was found to foster a poor working environment as well a tense atmosphere (U.S. EEOC 2011). Research has been carried out by several people in order to assess the measures and multiple forms that are there (Uggen & Blackstone, 2004).

Donald Trump has been accused by 19 women of several sexual misconduct claims. He is allegedly responsible for harassing the women by going backstage when they were naked; using sexual innuendo in talking to them and in this way, according to the testimony of three of the women, it made them feel guilty as if they were had attracted his unwarranted behaviour. From this point, we can see his authoritative position he held over the women and the vulnerable position in which they found themselves in. This has been echoed by all women who came forward (Cooney, 2017).

Problem Statement

In the introduction, we have looked at the vulnerability and the position placed on those who are victimized. These aspects take three paths in terms of problem development, therefore, act as a point of departure for this investigation. Clearly noted, is the fact that position and authority have influence in the type of response that is perceived by the victim and their ability to fight against it. This problem discussion which is highlighted in the literature review shows just how feminism plays a role in the development of power to tackle this problem. The second problem is the perception of female inability to fight the problem and thus points out the gender aspect in terms of vulnerability when it comes to sexual harassment. The third problem is the presence of Trump in a powerful position despite the claims it has given. However, this is approached from the point of view of the turning of power by the women grouping together in order to bring this to light. In this way, the position of Trump in influencing change and bringing t light the focus in this area including the examples of other claims just shows how critical this research is.

Purpose

The purpose of this research study is to look at the relationship between sexual harassment, victimization by gender and the reflected causes that have caused the issue to come out now and not when they happened. It, therefore, will focus on three major objectives.

1. To determine the relationship between authority and victimization

2. To determine the extent of the state of vulnerability in relation to the sexual misconduct

3. To assess the position of Donald Trump influence to the ‘coming out’ of the women

There will be a secondary objective to determine the shift in power that is seen with the coming out of the women and the consequences that have to be faced by the predator.

Hypotheses

There are two hypotheses that can be derived from the identification of the problem and literature review.

· Women are the most gender vulnerable to sexual harassment and Donald Trump took advantage of this

· The position of power is one of the key issues that has increased vulnerability in women and exposed them to sexual harassment

Literature Review

Gender, sexual harassment, and workplace power

In order to grasp the dynamics of the situation from the perspective of gender, we take a look at the feministic theories of sexual harassment and the characterization of a male seen as the authoritative figure in charge of the female subordinates and often leading to the women falling victims to sexual misconduct. The quantitative measures of workplace, sex and gender lead to the development of an analytical model that provides linkage to all the factors described.

Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power

In order to understand the aspects of gender consideration in studying sexual harassment and the position of power, the historical background has to be taken into consideration. Therefore, the look into cross-directional data exhibited in this shows a correlation factor of harassment causes. Characteristically, it tackles the gender aspects by looking at the position of women likely to report sexual harassment. This gives an insight why the accusations against Donald Trump are just now surfacing.

"This Was Locker Room Talk": A Content Analysis on the Preservation and Policing of Rape Culture on Twitter

The response of the allegation by Donald Trump provides the insight into the thought and state for which these allegations represent. In looking at the reaction we see Donald Trump develop empathetic abilities and seem to insinuate that this perspective is what is viewed by other (Sheets, 2017). It takes on new meaning to the definition of power seeing how it shifted. It takes a look at the twitter responses and the social and political interaction. The article also brings out the insight into the behavioural pattern of the victim as well as the ‘predator’ giving us the socio-environmental analysis from the two perspectives as well as the public (Keltner, 2017).

Methodology

The methodology applied will be an identification of the problem which leads to a generation of the hypotheses. The literature review highlights the major focus of the objectives of the study with a clear indication of the development of these three objectives. However, more literature will be used in the derivation of data in combination with carrying out a questionnaire interview.

Study Setting and Research Design

The study is meant to address the female population in the United States. This population will come from a diverse group of ethnicity, professional background, personality, socioeconomic status, and ages. It will focus on people from two major environmental localities; college- going females and those who are currently working within middle management. The confining of this population helps in the categorization of diversity as well as allows ease of data collection. A random sampling of a set population will provide a cross- section analysis that will provide variations in terms of comparative analysis. Identification of variable both dependent and independent will allow for identification of variance to prove the hypotheses.

Conclusion

The research will help in the identification of major zones of vulnerability that make it prone for women to fall into the circumstances. It will also show the trend of association of power to creating vulnerability as well as a solution to empowerment. In this way, underlying issues and that historically have been brought up are highlighted and then the policies that have been put in place noted. The study most of all will highlight major misconducts that have been done by Donald Trump, the implication of the responses he said to the allegations. This will then help in showing the patterns that are present in the victimization as well as predatory behaviour which thus will explain the reasons for the long- term wait until the exposure of sexual harassment allegations and misconducts.

References

Cooney , S. (2017, December 12). These are the women who have accused president trump of sexual misconduct. The Times Magazine. Retrieved from http://time.com/5058646/donald-trump-accusers/

Keltner, D. (2017, October 23). What the Science of Power Can Tell Us about Sexual Harassment. Mindful. Retrieved from https://www.mindful.org/science-power-can-tell-us-sexual-harassment/

McLaughlin, H., Uggen, C., & Blackstone, A. (2012). Sexual harassment, workplace authority, and the paradox of power. American Sociological Review, 77(4), 625–647. http://doi.org/10.1177/0003122412451728 .

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (2011). U.S. Equal employment opportunity commission. sexual harassment. Washington D.C: Retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sexual_harassment.cfm

Uggen C. & Blackstone A. (2004). Sexual Harassment as a Gendered Expression of Power. American Sociological Review, 69, 64–92.