Beiner, Theresa M. Chapter 2, "The Reasonable Woman Standard Much Ado about Nothing?" Gender Myths vs. Working Realities:  Using Social Science to Reformulate Sexual Harassment Law.   (2004)

                  Most people, especially women, are probably confused or ignorant of sexual harassment law--what they are, how they differ, and what constitutes as "sexual harassment" in a court.   People are confused enough when and if it happens to them, nonetheless what the law has to say about it.   This chapter of Beiner's book focuses on the perspectives of social science and law research on sexual harassment.   Beiner offers empirical evidence to show how people respond to sexual harassment and the assumptions of judges.   Gender stereotyping carries over in to law, just as it does in many other disciplines.   The author points out how and why gender has an impact on what constitutes sexual harassment in the workplace.   The legal standards of sexual harassment law are vague and sometimes the courts through these laws are given the leeway to stereotype or ignore reports and charges.   Beiner also analyzes the use of the "reasonable woman" legal standard to assess sexual harassment in courts.   This source is quite helpful in exposing the realities of sexual harassment law and in offering legal reforms with the goal of furthering workplace equality for women.   - L.F.

In her piece Theresa M. Beiner focuses solely on the reasonable woman standard which has been used in the legal system to help determine if sexual harassment occurred. As Beiner describes it, the reasonable woman standard is the belief that women experience and view sexual harassment differently than men based on their life experiences. In a very clear manner Beiner explains how the reasonable woman standard was enacted and uses specific studies, court examples, and statistics to show differing viewpoints of the standard and its necessity in the court room. Ultimately, she argues that men and women's views on sexual harassment are becoming more similar, which would eliminate the need for the reasonable woman standard. This piece is well-written and would be used for a specific look at the role of gender in sexual harassment cases, particularly in regard to the reasonable woman standard. It should be noted that this piece discusses sexual harassment in purely heterosexual terms; however, it does include issues of race and class. -C.D.