SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN

SEXUAL OBJECTIFICATION, SEXUAL HARASSMENT, AND SEXUAL ASSAULT IN STEM Sexualization of girls and women Symbolic dimension of oppression: critical analysis of images Rooted in prestigious STEM organization For example, Science American Association for the Advancement of Science Nobel Laureates Shirt Gate: Problematic apparel? Sexual harassment and assault in the field and in the lab “Me too” campaign Sexual harassment in Antarctica and elsewhere

SEXUALIZATION OF WOMEN’S BODIES Wow. According to research by the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sports, women represent 40 percent of all athletes but receive only 4 percent of all sports media coverage. And when women are visible in sports media, they are often portrayed as sexy models instead of strong, elite athletes.

Sexualization of women’s bodies “I don’t think “it’s just comics” and it doesn’t matter. I think media is a powerful thing in our society and that there’s a trickle down effect in seeing these portrayals reinforced over and over again. These portrayals shape how we view and value women…” http: //goodcomics. comicbookresources. com/2012/02/21/she-has-no-head-no-its-not-equal/ Kelly Thompson, 2/21/12

What if male superheroes posed like female superheroes? Artist Kevin Bolk http: //feministing. com/2012/05/09/what-if-dudesuperheroes-posed-like-lady-superheroes/

DIMENSIONS OF OPPRESSION Individual: The ways in which race, gender, class, and other aspects of identity frame our personal biographies and the ways we participate in institutions and relationships. Institutional: The systematic ways social institutions structure relationships in order to maintain power and privilege or confer subordination. --Patricia Hill Collins Symbolic: Socially sanctioned ideologies used to justify relations of domination and subordination.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF IMAGES

SCIENCE HAS A GENDER PROBLEM. SCIENCE JUST MADE IT WORSE. The issue, a special focused on ways to stay ahead of HIV and AIDS, prominently features two transgender women sex workers on its cover. http: //slantist. com/trans-sex-workers-science-magazine/

ASK ALICE (JUNE 1, 2015) AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE Dear Alice, Q: I’ve just joined a new lab for my second postdoc. It’s a good lab. I’m happy with my project. I think it could really lead to some good results. My adviser is a good scientist, and he seems like a nice guy. Here’s the problem: Whenever we meet in his office, I catch him trying to look down my shirt. Not that this matters, but he’s married. What should I do? —Bothered

Dear Bothered, A: Imagine what life would be like if there were no individuals of the opposite—or preferred—sex. It would be pretty dull, eh? Well, like it or not, the workplace is a part of life. It’s true that, in principle, we’re all supposed to be asexual while working. But the kind of behavior you mention is common in the workplace. Once, a friend told me that he was so distracted by an attractive visiting professor that he could not concentrate on a word of her seminar. Your adviser may not even be aware of what he is doing. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines unlawful sexual harassment as “unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. ” It goes on to say that “harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted). ” I’m not an attorney, but to me the behavior you’re describing doesn’t seem unlawful by this standard. Some definitions of sexual harassment do include inappropriate looking or staring, especially when it’s repeated to the point where the workplace becomes inhospitable. Has it reached that point? I don’t mean to suggest that leering is appropriate workplace behavior—it isn’t—but it is human and up to a point, I think, forgivable. Certainly there are worse things, including the unlawful behaviors described by the EEOC. No one should ever use a position of authority to take sexual advantage of another. As long as your adviser does not move on to other advances, I suggest you put up with it, with good humor if you can. Just make sure that he is listening to you and your ideas, taking in the results you are presenting, and taking your science seriously. His attention on your chest may be unwelcome, but you need his attention on your science and his best advice.

NOBEL PRIZES IN SCIENCE: STRICTLY A MAN’S GAME? The Nobel Prize and Prize in Economic Sciences have been awarded 567 times between 1901 and 2014, women receiving just 47 of those prizes. Less than 3% of Nobel laureates in science are women Nobel Prize in Physics: 2 women recipients Nobel Prize in Chemistry: 4 women recipients Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: 11 women recipients http: //www. theguardian. com/science/occams-corner/2015/aug/11/women-science-nobel-prize-franklintheatre

THE TROUBLE WITH GIRLS IN THE LAB TIM HUNT: 2001 NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSIOLOGY OR MEDICINE Connie St Louis @connie_stlouis Nobel scientist Tim Hunt FRS @royalsociety says at Korean women lunch “I’m a chauvinist and keep ‘girls’ single lab And this is his apology on BBC Radio http: //www. theguardian. com/uknews/2015/jun/10/nobel-scientist-tim-huntfemale-scientists-cause-trouble-for-men-inlabs

SHIRTGATE “Shirtgate, ” Part I: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=n 2 Y 6 VH 4 PSh. Q “Shirtgate, ” Part II: https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=a_k. Erty 6 kug European Space Agency landed a space probe on a comet. . Matt Taylor, the Rosetta mission’s project scientist, went on the air to talk about the successful landing. . He was wearing a bowling shirt covered in pinup-style drawings of scantily clad women.

“ME TOO” CAMPAIGN

SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE FIELD One study of nearly 700 scientists, ¾ of them women, from 32 disciplines, found that almost 2/3 of the respondents had been sexually harassed in the field. More than 20% reported being sexually assaulted. Students, postdocs, and women were most likely to report being harassed or assaulted by superiors. Very few reported that the field site had a code of conduct or sexual harassment policy. Perpetrators rarely face significant consequences. Action Plan: What can you do to prevent, interrupt, and/or address sexual harassment in your unit or in the field? Clancy KBH, Nelson RG, Rutherford JN, Hinde K (2014) Survey of Academic Field Experiences (SAFE): Trainees Report Harassment and Assault. PLOS ONE 9(7): e 102172. https: //doi. org/10. 1371/journal. pone. 0102172