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Coping

A 1991 study done by K.R. Yount found three dominant strategies developed by a sample of women coal miners to manage sexual harassment on the job: the "lady," the "flirt," and the "tomboy."

The "ladies" were typically the older women workers who tended to disengage from the men, kept their distance, avoided using profanity, avoided engaging in any behavior that might be interpreted as suggestive. They also tended to emphasize by their appearance and manners that they were ladies. The consequences for the "ladies" were that they were the targets of the least amount of come-ons, teasing and sexual harassment, but they also accepted the least prestigious and lowest-paid jobs.

The "flirts" were most often the younger single women. As a defense mechanism, they pretended to be flattered when they were the targets of sexual comments. Consequently, they became perceived as the "embodiment of the female stereotype,...as particularly lacking in potential and were given the fewest opportunities to develop job skills and to establish social and self-identities as miners."

The "tomboys" were generally single women, but were older than the "flirts." They attempted to separate themselves from the female stereotype and focused on their status as coal miners and tried to develop a "thick skin." They responded to harassment with humor, comebacks, sexual talk of their own, or reciprocation. As a result, they were often viewed as sluts or sexually promiscuous and as women who violated the sexual double standard. Consequently, they were subjected to intensified and increased harassment by some men. It was not clear whether the tomboy strategy resulted in better or worse job assignments.

The findings of this study may be applicable to other work settings, including factories, restaurants, offices, and universities. The study concludes that individual strategies for coping with sexual harassment are not likely to be effective and may have unexpected negative consequences for the workplace and may even lead to increased sexual harassment. Women who try to deal with sexual harassment on their own, regardless of what they do, seem to be in a no-win situation.

Working Parents

With more women in the workplace than ever before, the functioning and structure of modern families has changed drastically. "Between 1950 and 2000, the labor force participation rate of women between 25 and 55 years of age more than doubled. Today, more than 75 percent of these women are in the labor market." The existence of sexism in the workplace has negative consequences for family life. There has been a shift from the traditional family structure (where the man is the breadwinner and the woman takes care of domestic responsibilities (e.g., cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc.) and child-rearing) to a more modern family structure of dual-earner families, where both parents are in the workforce. "Dual-earner families now constitute almost two-thirds of all married couples" . Although dual-earner families appear to be a more egalitarian lifestyle, women are primarily responsible for finding, retaining, and paying for suitable childcare. "Working mothers are 83 percent more likely to take time off work to care for a child than working fathers" . Women are also more likely than men to take more time off work to care for an elderly parent. Because women have more responsibilities outside of the workplace that cause them to be in and out of the workforce more than men, women do not have access to the full-time employment benefits that are available to men.

The National Committte on Pay Equity found that in 2005, for every dollar a man earns, women overall earn 77 cents, 72 cents for African American women, 58 cents for Latinas, 87 cents for women of Asian decent, based on men and women who work full time, year round. The combined problems of women being payed less than men and women being in and out of the workforce puts dual-earner families at a disadvantage. In regard to one of the several financial disadvantages for dual-earner families, Strassel, Celeste, and Goodman (2006), state "Because Social Security taxes are levied on all earnings until capped at a high-income level, dual-earner households generally pay considerably more in taxes than single-earner households, but they will get only a minimal increase in Social Security benefits." Strassel, Celeste, and Goodman also mention that "Both men and women workers pay the same unemployment insurance taxes, but because women are more likely to work part-time and because they voluntarily move in and out of the labor market more frequently, they are less likely to receive any benefits in return for the taxes they pay" Not only are dual-earner families negatively impacted by working mothers' low wages, but they are also impacted by the fewer long-term Social Security benefits that women are able to collect in comparison to men.

Sexist Jokes

Sexist jokes tend to support the objectification of women.