Emily,

Thank you for the comment, and for sharing your experience. I agree that these events can vary widely across environments, or go unseen. I work in academia now, and for awhile, I worked part-time at the dealership, and it felt like culture shock to go in, even though I grew up around similar (albeit, much more watered down) environments (men goofing off by sack-tapping, etc.). I think Jason is an extreme example of what can happen to men (and women) in the workplace; what is concerning for me, though, is the mass acceptance of it and the fact that he isn’t reprimanded. He is still there, and everyone who works there generally shrugs off his behavior as messed up, but playing around. It’s really strange, and I think that the larger culture enables it to continue, even though this behavior isn’t the norm in a lot of workplaces.

I’m not sure, either, how harassment toward other men goes in academia — I haven’t seen that, either, and I agree that it’s because a) some are aware of toxic masculinity or b) there are other ways of doing it. I wonder sometimes if the harassment might take shape in abusing power in non-physical ways, or outside of the workplace. I hope that those stories get told, as time moves on.

Anyway, thank you for your thoughts! I appreciate hearing any perspectives on this issue. To be honest, I didn’t often think about sexual harassment targeting men (at least in the workplace) until I worked there, which now makes me feel sad. Thank you for taking the time to weigh in!