Harassment from Security Guards

As we were talking this week about sexual harassment I was reminded of working in the Tarrant County Justice Center. Every morning when I would go to work, the security guards would feel it necessary to make sly comments or hit on me. I do not think I have ever looked forward to being allowed into the "employee only entrance" quite so much. The behavior of the security guards was frustrating but my response was more frustrating.

I was talking about this with a fellow classmate recently. Men may make ridiculous comments; but, sometimes women, like myself, fail to respond. Most of the time when I was entering the Justice Center I would just roll my eyes and chalk the behavior up to "being a man." It is exactly as we discussed in class-when is the appropriate time to take a stand? Because I wrestle with this issue, the end result is I don't say anything. In my opinion, that is the worst path women can take. If we never stand up for ourselves then change will likely never occur.

Alternatively, speaking up when inappropriate comments are made, may result in men perceiving women as irritable or they may say "well, it must just be her time of the month." I think it would require the majority of women to stand up or else men would just assume those who did were irritable or old fashioned. If women stood up in a united manner it would be much more difficult for men to say females are ALL irritable individuals. But, this may be easier said than done because at times one must have a confrontational attitude to achieve a result (and not all women possess this personality trait).