African Americans Doing Feminism: Putting Theory into Everyday Practice

11. Resistance as Recovery: Winning a Sexual Harassment Complaint

Chapter 11 Resistance as Recovery Winning a Sexual Harassment Complaint Carolyn M. West Sexual harassment is defined by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) as follows: Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when (1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, (2) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual, or (3) such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.1 Consider these statistics: in a sample of 100 Black women university students, 52% had experienced at least one sexually harassing act that was perpetrated by a professor during their academic careers.2 Approximately onethird of female graduate students had received sexual advances, overtures, or propositions that were initiated by a psychology educator, such as a course instructor, academic advisor, or clinical supervisor.3 These studies indicate that sexual harassment is a widespread, well-documented form of sexual exploitation on college campuses, and Black women and graduate students are among the many victims/survivors. The purpose of this chapter is to attach a name and story to these disembodied statistics. I am associate professor of psychology and the Bartley Dobb Profes175 176 Carolyn M. West sor for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the University of Washington. I write, train, consult, and lecture internationally on interpersonal violence and sexual assault, with a special focus on violence in the lives of African American women. But like the anonymous Black women and graduate students in the aforementioned studies, two decades ago, before I became Dr. West, I experienced sexual harassment while pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The details of the harassment that I endured from February 1987 until the summer of 1990 are laid out in the first section of this chapter. In the second section, I specify how my feminist beliefs enabled me to identify and craft a strategy to address the harassment. Finally, I explain how feminism helped me during my recovery process. Sexual Harassment “You look uncomfortable. Perhaps you would be more comfortable lying on my desk.” It was September 1989, and I had reluctantly accepted Dr. O. as my clinical supervisor. According to him, I needed “extra supervision” to help me with a particularly difficult client whom I had been counseling. I was a new clinician and beginning to seriously doubt my decision to become a full-time therapist. Although I was apprehensive about the late afternoon meeting with Dr. O., he actually gave me some positive feedback. I felt encouraged. Then he began asking personal questions: “Are you dating anyone special?” “If you were going away for a special weekend, who would you take?” I responded to his interrogation with vague answers. To further add to my discomfort, his eyes seemed to linger a bit too long on my breasts. I pretended not to notice. This was not the first time, nor would it be the last time, that Dr. O. would engage in such inappropriate behavior with me. The “behavior,” which I did not label sexual harassment at the time, had begun several years earlier. In February 1987 I was a precocious, idealistic, 23-year-old graduate student who was fulfilling my childhood dream of becoming a psychologist. It was an especially cold Midwestern winter, the perfect time for the annual “Tahiti Party,” which was the social event of the year. Graduate students and professors were expected to wear outlandish beach attire, perform skits, and dance. I had never been a big drinker, and I didn’t enjoy water sports, so I avoided the margaritas and the hot tub. Unfortunately, I was unable to avoid Dr. O.’s wandering hands and eyes. He danced a bit too close for my comfort, kept trying to adjust the straps on my costume, and continued to question me throughout the evening: “So, when are you leaving?” “Where is your car parked?” I left the party alone. Later, I heard the rumors. This was typical conduct for Dr. O. Apparently, each year he focused his “attentions” on a first-year female graduate student. I was not 177 Resistance as Recovery interested in...