He didn''t sexually harass me, as in harassed for sex .... he was just horrible: Women's definitions of unwanted male sexual conduct at work

The definition of sexual harassment has always been a key topic for Feminists who seek to provide women with a political vocabulary with which to resist male oppression. Therefore, recent contributors to the sexual harassment debate have been concerned by women's apparent non-labelling of "sexual harassment." This article, however, suggests that the construction of "sexual harassment" as the only meaningful conceptualisation for unwanted male sexual conduct is unhelpful: it means that women's alternative interpretations for such experiences are not respected. I draw from qualitative interviews to explore the ways in which women interpret unwanted male sexual conduct. My proposition is that "sexual harassment" should be understood as only one of many meaningful interpretations for unwanted male sexual conduct: a recognition of a range of terms for unwanted male sexual conduct, rather than just one term, will enable more women to name and perhaps challenge unwelcome experiences. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.