After a hiatus last month, I am back with another installment of Science of Sex. As soon as I read a recent entry in the Archives of Sexual Behavior, I knew I had to write about it.
Titled “Sexual Harassment in the Field of Sexuality Research,” this submission is a guest editorial from Drs. Debby Herbenick and Sari M. van Anders along with Lori A. Brotto, Meredith L. Chivers, Sofia Jawed-Wessel, and Jayleen Galarza.
You might recognize some of these names from a previous Science of Sex post in which I discussed the work done by women in the field of sexuality. I’ve also reviewed Brotto’s book, and it inspired another Science of Sex post.
For those who are unfamiliar, these women are doing groundbreaking work around sexuality. Some have ties to the Kinsey Institute. Along with research, many of them are educators, and some are also authors. If you’re interested in sex and academia, you’ll probably run into their names.
I appreciate their work and share it often. So I was intrigued when a paper was released at the beginning of this month and it was co-authored by multiple people who have earned my respect and admiration.
It wasn’t great news, however. These women have worked hard and provided valuable insight into sexuality. But sexual harassment occurs so frequently and egregiously that they felt they had to talk about it.
They get right to the point:
Our field has a problem with sexual harassment, and we need to talk about it. Though sexual harassment is currently at the forefront of discussions taking place within major social movements, professional societies, and disciplines […], the discipline of sexuality research has—to this point—been largely absent from these discussions.
The editorial continues to break down the issues and to offer possible reasons for such sexual harassment including that the very nature of their work might invite unwanted behavior. I touched on this a bit myself when I wrote about being a sex educator in my own way. This editorial emphasizes how rampant the issue really is.
But our professional sexuality spaces are about our work, not our personal sexualities.
As someone who has dealt with this issue myself, I am not surprised that sexual harassment extends far and wide among those whose careers focus on sexuality. As a woman, I know that sexual harassment and the sexism that allows for it permeates every field and every walk of life.
I was surprised, however, that a group of women and perhaps this group of women stepped forward to say something. Some people might argue that it’s about time or, rather, that “Time’s Up.” With the MeToo movement setting a foundation, there may be no better time for these professionals to air their grievances.
Yet, it still feels brave. I worry that these women will face professional repercussions, personal attacks online, or have their lives otherwise invaded by people who are unwilling to hear these truths. I worry that these voices will be minimized like so many voices that came before them.
I thanked the women on Twitter. Their bravery speaks volumes, and their effort is appreciated by me at least. That effort includes multiple, actionable steps to end sexual harassment in their field. Yet again, these women were forced to do the work that should not be on their shoulder.
I write this month’s post to encourage any of my followers who have not read this guest editorial to do so, to encourage thought and discussion about sexual harassment, and to remind my readers that there is still work to do if we want to create a world where there is no need for this type of editorial, and that work falls on all of us.
