This past semester in Madison I took a class on the sociology of deviant behavior, we covered a wide ground of legal, societal, family, moral and sexual deviance. One of the more striking statements I remember reading and hearing was the notion the need for a strong separation between the legal and the moral aspects of society, namely, laws are not meant to enforce morals. Whenever we try to impose moralistic ideals on the rest of society, the practicality and effectiveness varies. In some ways, especially as defined in this course and course material, I see sexual harassment as a form of moral deviance, more specifically, a disrespect for the female gender.

I would argue though, that it would be rather ineffective, perhaps useless to mandate strict anti-sexual harassment laws, as punishment in itself is an after-the-fact strategy. Harassment as a subtle form of assault, the gray area of definition that comes as the conscious and subconscious attack on the female gender out of personal defense mechanisms, attitudes, societal and media stereotypes about women. Assault in any form should not be taken at all, but the definition of what assault means should be defined in made clear before legal action should be implemented.

A very important point to be brought up about the issues of sexual harassment discussed is the fact that biased towards women against men. You cannot promote an environment of mutual respect and cohabitation when the genders are polarized against each other. The pursuit of total gender equality is a foolish quest. There are specific emotional, physical and chemical differences between males and females that are undeniable. Society has built on these differences rather unfairly, but nonetheless we cannot ignore that they exist. I look at sexual harassment issues in a similar light as with racial equality issues. With any case of equality, racial, ethnic, class, and gender, it remains a two-way street. We are all different, yet we try and find common ground to live in peace. This is with the full understanding that the majority of sexual harassment examples are men perpetrating women, but if legal protection and intervention is desired, then there must be no double-standards for the conduct and expectations for respect on both parties, male and female.

The social stigma of the child-molester, the social pervert, the male chauvinist is a strong one that must be addressed when dealing with the issues of sexual harassment. The laws of this country are supposed to be set up to ensure innocence of the accused until an indictment and conviction by a jury of his/her peers. Due process is a right that we are all supposed to be entitled to regardless of gender. It is too easy to point fingers and to cast quick blame, to label people. To disrespect the legal system from which we are trying to create a society that respects women is hypocritical. To say the system is flawed, and is male-biased is a strong and perhaps valid statement, but it is also ineffective in the search of improvement and change in the legal and societal system.

One solution in which the law can be implemented to maybe help solve the problems of harassment is to make it standard for company policy to prohibit personal/sexual relationships between co-workers within the same department, or field of influence. This would set descriptive guidelines for both superiors and subordinates as far as inappropriate behaviors; there will be no question of the harassment as being a "playful" or "flirtatious" act. I know the military has some standards of this when it comes to marriage between enlisted, or officers. After marriage, one spouse is reassigned to a different outfit. Of course there will always be some people who believe in the more traditional roles for each gender, but these people can be shown a different perspective by focusing on the positive examples and exceptions to such gender stereotypes. In the case of the military and law enforcement field, promote an assertive, strong woman with the proper qualifications and integrity. There are no laws, no punishments that can do this, only positive examples and individuals that go against the inaccurate and disempowering stereotypes.

Kick out the militant fem-nazis and extremists that give the feminist cause a bad name and reputation, find the strong, pragmatic open-minded women to rally behind and find a common ground in which respect can be seen on equal ground. Sexual harassment is a touchy topic that must be addressed with utmost care-it is a soapbox for addressing women's issues of equality, but it also has the potential to widening the gap between the genders. The legal tangle involved with trying to force respect upon disrespectful individuals is a strong example of the dangers in crossing the responsibility of enforcing morals with legal standards.