Létters,..;

YOUR FORUM FOR DISCUSSION. The Gem vigorously encourages dissent and contro- versy and prints all letters to the Editor except

those of a malicious

nature.

Letters must be

signed and include the authors phone number.

However, names can be withheld from publica- tion by request. Deadline for letters is Monday,

5:00pm.

Dear Sir:

I feel disturbed that, amid the recent aca-

very

demic discourse, psycholog-

ical jargon, explicit accu- sations and implicit innuen- does in recent editions of this newspaper, the most impor- tant issue the need for a policy on sexual harassment — has become submerged in

a sea of rhetoric.

The whether sexual harassment

question is not

exists on this campus, but

rather to what extent it exists. Research studies, using very broad criteria,

indicate that sexual harass-

ment is alive and well on

most university campuses across North America, and the Mazer/Percival Survey that UPEI

different in this respect from

confirms is no any other academic institu-

tion.

Sexual harassment oper- ates in every sphere of soci- ety, and I speak from twenty years’ experience functioning in environments dominated by men. We, as Islanders, like to sit back very smugly sometimes and pretend that our “Island way of life” is less conducive to developing the ills of modern society than other urban centers in Upper Canada or the United States. statistics. Every social ill of the 1980's whether we care to acknowl-

Check your latest exists here,

edge that fact or not.

Rape, child abuse, in- cest, wife battering, and sexual harassment are as

prevalent on the Island as in any other part of North America. Surely, these neg- ative and hostile behaviors, largely directed at women, reflect the attitudes and pre- toward

sumptions of men

women in our culture.

Jargon obfuscates the issue

I think it is very naive of Prof.

that sexual harassment ex-

Rahman to state

ists only where there is “relentless pressure or co- ercion”’. Harassment is a

form of prejudice, and sex- ual harassment occurs in the fabric of our lives in a vari- It can be rough-edged and blatant, as

ety of textures.

in an unsolicited touch, or it can be silky-smooth, as in a subtle remark, suggestive language, or discomforting glance. Harassment func- tions on many levels and, in this sense, it is as dam- aging as any other form of prejudicial behavior.

I am insulted by his intimation that almost any- thing can be called. sexual

harassment, and that women

do not know the difference between appropriate and in-

Prof. realize in-

appropriate behavior. Rahman may not

that herent, intuitive capable of filtering out in- nocent gestures and remarks from heavier, derogatory be- We do know when

women. have an separator

havior. we are being harassed.

For Prof. assert that Profs Mazer and Percival ‘snuck’ in questions toward femi-

Rahman to

on attitudes

nism, not only strikes me as libelous language on his part, but also illustrates to me that he sees little corre- lation between attitude and behavior. One does not need a degree in psychology to understand that men’s sexual harassment of women corresponds strongly with the dominant /submissive at- titudes which prevail in our culture.

Men who respect the ideals of the Feminist move- ment, who value women as

equal human beings, and

who feel threatened by nei- ther, are less likely to display pejorative attitudes towards women, and less likely to harass them with unsolicited touches, glances or remarks. I think the questions con- cerning feminism are totally relevant ta the whole ques- tion of sexual harassment.

T feel it will be a tremen- dovs tragedy for this uni- versiiy, and for the women who muke up a large portion of students and staff (not faculty, quite noticeably), if Profs. Mazer and Percival now feel any further research they wish to conduct will be jeopardized because of the destructive criticism of their motives and methods, and the public attack on their professional credibility.

There a very definite - qualitative and quantitative

continues to b need for

research on sexual harass- ment, for the formation of a university policy, and the establishment of a commit- tee to deal with complaints. Without a formalized struc- will continue

ture, women

“to be doubly victimized —

by sexual harassment, and by the lack of any recourse to handle legitimate com- plaints.

I commend Profs. Mazer and Percival for their efforts to determine the extent of sexual harassment (in all its forms), for attempting openly to identify and eval- uate changing attitudes to- wards women, and for their committment to improve the pursuing

lives of women

higher education at UPEI.

Please do not be intimidated by all the recent intellec- tual harassment. Please continue with your research, and please... be relentless in your pursuit.

—Gloria Large.

Cont. on page 5

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Darrell Cole, Sports

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