Interesting Links for 18-09-2015

[andrewducker]

• Study shows Ed Miliband did not lose election because he was too left wing
  • (tags: politics UK Labour )
• "You'll destroy the universe if you try to shine a flashlight to the bottom of the Marianas Trench."
  • (tags: ocean light physics )
• How estrogen levels affect the willingness to share
  • (tags: estrogen sharing psychology hormones )
• There's now an app

Comments

[gonzo21]

Cameron doesn't want to wake up. I was convinced during the Referendum the Tories wanted Scotland to go. And their behaviour since has just reinforced that.

[bart_calendar]

But wait, that chart assumes that someone is being sexually harassed even if they don't perceive it as sexual harassment. Unwanted actions are certainly sexual harassment, but what if the person welcomes or is indifferent to the action. Doesn't it have to at least bother the person before it becomes harassment?

For example I receive lewd texts from my gay clients all the time and they do not bother me. (nor do they particularly interest me, but if a client wants to send me a picture of his new boyfriend's dick, whatever.)

A better example. Back when I was a journalist before the Internet was a thing we had a system at the newspaper that allowed you to send electronic messages to co workers. The woman who would become my ex-wife worked there. She certainly sent me lewd messages and I certainly sent her lewd messages. I don't think either of us would consider that harassment.

[chess]

There is a massive problem separating 'I was genuinely fine with this' from 'I want to present myself as the kind of person who is fine with this', though.

[bart_calendar]

There is. And that's my objection to the chart. Cosmo has set it up in such a way that it's hard to tell what the real representation is.

I am completely against sexual harassment. That said many, many people meet their future spouses at work and I'm sure that things covered in this graphic cover behavior that happens in that context.

I'd be more interested in the numbers of women who say they are harassed rather than the ones that report behavior that would be harassment if unwanted but clearly isn't when it is.

[alitheapipkin]

Ah but to be fair to them, part of what they are trying to highlight is that harassment is not always recognised as such. And while sexual private messages might not be harassment in some contexts, comments targeted at one person who doesn't feel harassed by them can still contribute to an uncomfortable working environment for other people present.

Also, this is all self-reported, do you really think women are including exchanging dodgy messages with their partner while at work? Because that wouldn't occur to me in the context of what was presumably presented as a work place survey.

[davesmusictank]

I think Cameron really does want to give Scotland away. He seems to be sleepwalking about it.