# Is this sexual harassment? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 9, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318 "2012-03-09T20:02:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/21 "2012-03-10T04:02:09Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > Were her breasts covered or uncovered? That depends. Do hands count? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/22 "2012-03-10T04:10:03Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > Has the offender been asked to stop and did they? So, if she asks the OP to break eye contact, it’s acceptable for him to look at her boobs? 😕 Hey, **CWG** , what were you [wearing](http://www.zazzle.com/staring_eyes_full_tshirt-235440530603662635)? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/23 "2012-03-10T06:16:23Z")
Stare at her eyes instead :smack: Why didn’t I think of that?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/24 "2012-03-10T06:33:36Z")
I took the question to ask if the starer is being harrassed by being forced to look, for a sexual reason, somewhere they didn’t want to look. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/25 "2012-03-10T10:32:07Z")
> [@A Monkey With a Gun](#): > > That depends. Do hands count? That depends. Were they covering the nips? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/26 "2012-03-10T12:29:45Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > It could be embarrassing if she catches you staring into her eyes and says, “Hey, my boobs are down here!” _Thread Winner_ (and personal favorite) ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/27 "2012-03-10T12:45:05Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I’ll bet it was. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. Say no more! Bazinga ! I was starting to think, Hey this guy ain’t checkn’ out my sisters time to take it up a notch and lets wear this today while leaning over a lot. She’ll never catch me peaking. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/28 "2012-03-10T15:48:33Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Huh? How could it be? I don’t even understand this, is it that hard not to look at a woman’s breasts constantly? Jeez Louise. Imma take a stab here and guess that you’re female… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/29 "2012-03-11T08:05:14Z")
Yep, absolutely it’s sexual harassment - there’s no way you should be having to consciously avoid looking at her breasts, so she can damn well cover them up and make your workplace less hostile. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318/30 "2012-03-11T14:15:22Z")
I’m probably a troglodyte, but my attitude is that if a woman dresses in a way that deliberately emphasizes her breasts, then she wants you to look. If she dresses otherwise, then probably not. I recall a friend of mine, in about 1955, whose (quite well-endowed) wife complained to her husband that people had been staring at her see-through blouse all day. He replied, quite reasonably it seemed to me, that if she was wearing a see-through blouse, she was inviting them to stare. I know a woman mathematician who is spectacularly beautiful. She wears baggy and unflattering clothes and, although I am not certain of this, it is because she wants to be taken seriously as a mathematician. And it works too. I guess it’s a shame it is that way, but it is unavoidable. I never give a thought to what I wear, but women do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-sexual-harassment/615318.md?page=1)