Title

The Reasonable Woman and the Ordinary Man

Authors

Carol Sanger, Columbia Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

1992

Center/Program

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

Abstract

... Objections to the reasonable woman standard [for sexual harassment] combine doctrinal concerns with practical ones. The doctrinal question is something like, Whatever happened to gender neutrality? How are men supposed to know what conduct strikes their victims as intimidating, hostile, or offensive? After all, women are so sensitive – take Anita Hill. Why, as men often ask, can't women be more reasonable? ...

The answer is that at least in determining what behavior is sexually harassing, women are not like men. As many feminists have explained, women commonly experience as fearful what men find fun. ...

Recommended Citation

Carol Sanger, The Reasonable Woman and the Ordinary Man, Southern California Law Review, Vol. 65, p. 1411, 1992 (1992).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/1447