Hashing Out Harassment : Lifetime show has women and men discussing sexual power plays in the workplace

Journalist Linda Ellerbee has never been one to mince words. She certainly speaks her mind when it comes to the hot topic of sexual harassment.

“I have never had personal instances of harassment, but have come across the hostile environment and the remarks,” she said. “It is a crime. But we have to keep reminding ourselves of what it truly is. It is not about the unwelcome pass or the dirty joke. It is about power .”

It also happens to be the subject of this week’s Lifetime documentary “Dangerous Propositions,” which Ellerbee wrote. She shares host duties with actor Harry Hamlin.

Sexual harassment is nothing new, but it really wasn’t brought into the forefront until last fall’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings, when Anita Hill accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment.

Since 1980, though, when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determined sexual harassment was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Right Acts of 1964, more than 38,500 cases have been filed with the federal government. But a 1991 survey of female executives found nearly two-thirds of those who said they had been harassed failed to report it.

“Dangerous Propositions” examines the differences between the male and female perception of sexual harassment and what can be done to bring about a dialogue between men and women. The one-hour documentary features interviews with women and men of all walks of life, including a college freshman who successfully sued her high school for sexual harassment, a middle-age waitress-turned-truck driver who stood up to her boss and a discussion among men who have engaged in harassment and don’t seem to understand why it upsets women.

“Sexual harassment isn’t just a woman’s problem,” said executive producer Donna Harris, vice president for original programming, reality and specials for Lifetime. “We aren’t doing a show that is male bashing. We are trying to investigate it from both points of view.”

Though the majority of women interviewed in “Dangerous Propositions” are outraged at their treatment by men, the documentary does not have an angry tone. “We are not naive to think that one show would end (sexual harassment),” said Harris, who said she has never personally encountered sexual harassment.

“But we think it will make a difference because it is trying to be a catalyst for people to talk and listen to each other,” she said. “I think that you make a lot more progress in that if it is not done in anger. What you see a lot of in the show is people sharing emotion, sharing frustration and some of them sharing frustration with themselves at how they handled situations in their past.”

The documentary, Ellerbee said, offers stories both sexes need to “hear over and over again. We need to have the message reinforced that women are saying, ‘This is out there. This exists. This bothers me.’ Men are saying, ‘I don’t quite get it, but maybe I better try.’ ”

Ellerbee said she believes there should be a mass education program for men so they will understand such simple phrases from women as “No. I don’t think that’s funny.” “Yes. That is insulting.”

“I would like men and women in good faith to sit down and talk about it, but I don’t know (if it will happen),” Ellerbee said. “There is an awful lot of anger out there.”

Harris said perception is big part of the harassment problem. One man may comment on a woman’s appearance and mean it as true flattery, whereas another man may mean it as a form of harassment.

“That is why it is complex,” Harris said. “That is why everyone accepted it for so long. It isn’t black or white. But there are definite cases where these people know what they are doing and either don’t care or don’t feel that they have to care because they will never be held accountable.”

Even some women don’t understand sexual harassment, Ellerbee and Harris said. “They feel other women were asking for it,” Harris said.

“This is the same reason we don’t have an ERA,” Ellerbee said, “because women don’t see what is in their own best interests. We have always had this need to be popular in life and that includes at work.”

One good thing that came out of the Thomas-Hill hearings, Ellerbee said, is that finally both sexes are talking. “I hope it doesn’t stop,” she said.

The hearings, she said, also will be reflected this fall at the ballot box. In fact, they already have. Several women have won their state primaries, including California’s Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, who both won Democratic nominations U.S. Senate seats.

“Women are so mad about (the hearings),” Ellerbee said. “How could the Senate not get it? How could so many men not get it? It has nothing to do if you believed her or not. Women across the board politically touch that (electoral) button. I think Bush is in a lot more trouble with women than he imagines.”

“Dangerous Propositions” airs Wednesday at 9 p.m. and Saturday at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.