Response to “Venus and Adonis: An early accound of sexual harassment”

As three members of the Editorial Conunittee of this journal we are responding to the Editorial written by our distinguished Founding Editor in order to clarify several issues that have been raised about that Editorial. Several people who have read the manuscript questioned the appropriateness of any editorial on sexual harassment in a journal whose purpose is to publish scientific articles. It is our opinion that sexual harassment, in its various forms, is an unresolved problem in all areas of the workplace, including the scientific. Thus it is both important and useful to discuss this issue. Our concern is with the appropriateness of the example chosen by Dr. Wortis to illustrate his point, and with the impression his editorial might create that harassment is just another manifestation of inequities in power relationships. Although the example of Venus and Adonis has literary merit, it hardly typifies the problem as it exists today. It is well known that harassment mainly reflects the fact that most women in the work force report to men. some of whom use their position as bosses to make unwanted sexual advances. We think that Dr. Wortis would agree that this is a problem, but we believe not all readers will get that impression from his editorial. Whether an inequity in power relationships lies at the heart of sexual harassment may be a good subject for research. We hope, however, that effective steps are taken to spare women from the burden of harassment well before the merits or demerits of power inequities have been resolved. Despite our questions about this editorial, we believe that the Founding Editor should have the opportunity to voice his opinion in this Journal whether we agree with what he says or not.