19 October 2017

Some "rumors" about Steven Wright in The Mesa Newsroom?

Your MesaZona blogger usually makes it a practice not "to go there" when innuendoes and gossip tend to circulate, but this one appears to getting "some legs", for better or for worse. . . and getting it out there in the public discourse, with some precautions.
Usually these things used to get over-looked or not looked at all except when there's a huge avalanche in the news about workplace sexual harassment. It's no wonder then that things  that might have been ignored here in Mesa before are now bubbling up. True or not?
The Mormon Church - and Mormon men - are not immune for some of those "temptations of the flesh", as written about in the article that features the opening image after a series of reports about sexual abuse and sexual harassment. 
Here's a link to comments posted in July of this year > http://religionnews.com about practices of bishops, followed by an older link to what the Honor Code at Brigham Young University was ...and, of course, there's also available on the City of Mesa's website for the official Ethics Handbook.
This is an excerpt from BYU'S Honor Code:
Source: https://bycommonconsent.com/2013/06/17
How would this play out in the workplace?  First of all, corporate dress codes, where they exist, are less restrictive than BYU.  Corporate dress codes are written to encourage employees to project a professional image, without reference to sexual motives.  There are  cultural disincentives to dress in a deliberately sexy manner (e.g. women have reason to fear they may not be taken seriously).
Sexual conduct is handled as a separate policy matter from dress code.  A male colleague approaching a female colleague to inform her that her clothing is too sexy or too tight would therefore be initiating a discussion about his own sexual reaction.  Most men in the corporate world wouldn’t touch that conversation with a ten-foot pole[5].  How this comment will be perceived by the female colleague is subjective.  Most women in the workplace would feel uncomfortable, particularly because it is an unwanted criticism and they have not violated any company policy.  Unless they are close friends with the male who approaches them, they may feel threatened by this interaction; they will probably feel sexually objectified and slightly creeped out.
If a woman complains to the HR department that she was approached by a male colleague who made sexual comments about her appearance, the HR team would investigate the complaint to determine if there is a pattern of unwanted behavior and to assess whether the complaint is justified based on what a “reasonable person” would feel in that situation.  Based on how most women would perceive being approached in this manner, the guy will probably be deemed to be in the wrong.  Because most courts side with complainants, large corporations take complaints of hostile work environment very seriously.  The corporation must be able to demonstrate in court (if the situation arises) that they have a strong track record of taking these types of complaints seriously.  Even if the complaint is resolved, being the subject of this kind of investigation will raise questions about this person’s ability to work with others; these doubts will limit his career potential.
Another concern happens relative to how men and women are discouraged from interacting. If a man refuses to be alone with a female colleague in a professional work context (e.g. on a business trip or in an office for a one-on-one meeting), that man is the one who is bringing sexuality into the workplace and creating an awkward situation, one not recognized by the majority of professionals as a real threat (where there is no history of sexual misconduct). Male employees are expected to treat female colleagues, subordinates and bosses as business professionals, not as potentially seductive threats.  
Solutions
I want to clarify that most of the Mormon men I know are perfectly capable of controlling themselves when they see an attractive woman, regardless of how that woman is dressed or whether they are alone with her; this was true even at BYU.  Most of them can handle seeing an attractive woman in the workplace without stuttering out some sort of unwanted creepy commentary or fleeing as if from Potiphar’s wife.  But those who are already prone to creeperdom are bolstered and given plenty of fodder for self-justification in the Mormon world, to their peril.  And by far, the biggest creepers I’ve met in the workplace have been Mormon men.  In one case, it even caused our company’s senior leaders to ask whether Mormon culture was creating the sexist and unprofessional behavior that had been observed. . . .
 

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