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Hello,
I work in an office where the men are
constantly forwarding each other extremely graphic
e-mails featuring naked women performing various
sex acts. To be fair, they do not send them to
me (though I have seen one or two), but they
do discuss these e-mails in front of me, laughing
when I get upset.
I'm not trying to be uptight,
and I have joked around with the guys in the
past. If I want them to stop discussing these
things around me, do I have to completely abandon
my sense of humor and basically threaten them
with harassment charges? It's a small office
and we've worked together for years. I just find
myself growing less tolerant of these things.
Thanks,
Amy
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Amy --
It sounds like you have a
pretty good relationship with your coworkers
and thus might be in a good position to just
lay it out for them. I don't think that you have
to do this in a doctrinaire way, but simply point
out that it's just not funny to you -- and while
they might humored by it, you aren't. If this
more conversational approach doesn't make an
impact, you could also probably do something
more formal through your HR office.
Many workplaces
have policies against viewing porn, etc.... on
their dime and through their accounts. Also,
this cumulative behavior can count as sexual
harassment -- even though it's not intended that
way, or at least you don't seem to be interpreting
it that way -- it is part of creating a hostile
work environment.
I hope you can find some resolution -- and if
you do want to do something more formal, probably
best to begin documenting these exchanges.
Good
luck,
--Amy
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