Quote:
Originally Posted by calf
Yeah, it's not the severity of the act, but the severity of the trauma on the victim. Every victim will act differently - some might brush it off too, some may have a form of PTSD, some may make a significant career decision based on the harassment they received, or be blacklisted for their lack of "co-operation". Whether it's a smack on the butt, it's the impact, not the action that matters.
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I just can't agree with this. Just because you feel like a victim doesn't make you one. It also doesn't mean your feelings are invalid either.
If I'm at work and tell someone that I like their hair/clothes whatever (I would never do this, just an example) someone that's very nervous or easily intimidated could feel legitimately uncomfortable, scared or take it the wrong way, whereas the vast majority would take it as compliment.
That's not harassment but based on what you are saying it could be classified that way. If something makes people uncomfortable we should discourage that behavior. If someone is very easily outraged, traumatized or afraid of everything their feelings are real to them but that can't be the basis for these accusations, and they should probably see someone to work on those feelings a little bit. If a power imbalance is involved that also changes things.
I understand that you are probably referring to more significant, concrete actions but I think we need to at least have a loose definition of what actions are a problem.