Can Gay Men Sexually Harass Straight Women?
Posted by: Annika Harris
Filed in:
news, video
2:00PM, Monday August 17th 2009
Here’s a question: Can gay men sexually harass straight women? We’re aware of three instances in which gay men have felt it appropriate to fondle women without their permission and justified their behavior because they’re homosexual. Dwight Eubanks, the “sixth housewife,” was a major player on last week’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” but one thing I noticed about him was that he feels up every woman he meets. He grabs and jiggles breasts, runs his hands up and down legs and thighs, and inspects faces. (Watch the video above starting at 4:10 for a taste of his inappropriateness.)
We also came across a story about a “Facebook firing,” in which a female employee laments her job and “pervvy wanker” boss via her Facebook status. Unfortunately, the woman forgot she’d accepted her boss as a friend. The boss seems to rationalize, before terminating her, that his behavior toward her couldn’t possibly have been inappropriate because he’s gay.
Then, we remembered a shining moment in entertainment history, when Isaac Mizrahi groped both Scarlett Johansson and Teri Hatcher as he played red carpet host at the 2006 Golden Globes. Isaac, like the other men I’ve mentioned, had the idea that touching a woman inappropriately was OK because he didn’t actually desire her sexually.
So we wonder, is it still sexual harassment if a gay man gropes a straight woman? We know what these men would say, but what do you think?
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ThatWeirdGamerChick
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 01:05 pm: [report]
I think that most women would be uncomfortable with being touched/groped by strangers, regardless of sexual orientation. And if they’re touched in a ‘sexual’ place and they don’t like it, yeah, it’s sexual harassment.
DancerNinja
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 01:10 pm: [report]
Sexual harassment isn’t “severe flirting”. It’s harassment with sexual over or under tones, which can come from anywhere.
Jessalyn
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 01:24 pm: [report]
If it’s something my gynecologist has to touch to do any part of an annual exam, you’d better be sure you have my permission before you go there, regardless of whether or not you’re sexually attracted to me.
Is it inappropriate for a lesbian woman to grab a man’s penis, rub up against him (intimately, not accidentally) or fondle him in any other way, using the excuse that she’s not attracted to him? I certainly think so. Why in the world would this be any different?
Goldfinch86
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 01:29 pm: [report]
Sexual harassment can come from anyone, of any orientation, of any sex regardless of their preference. If you don’t feel that it was okay, if it was sexual, if you felt threatened, if they touched you in a private spot then yes it’s harassment. I honestly think that some gay men think they are just one of the girls and honestly it’s not true. You may not get a sexual feeling from touching or saying something but if it is of a sexual nature and it offends us sometimes when you seriously cross the line. Especially touching, not everyone is that open and I personally think it’s distasteful.
fallonthecity
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 02:01 pm: [report]
I’m with ThatWeirdGamerChick. I don’t care who or what you are, if you touch my boobs without invitation, it’s way out of line, and I would definitely call it sexual harassment.
Coral
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 02:13 pm: [report]
Yes, I think it’s sexual harassment. However, I have a few gay friends who I am very close to. And we just joke around and I would not be offended if they ‘inappropriately’ touched me. Of course it depends on other things, but friends, straight or gay, can joke around and have fun once in awhile.
Laurel
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 03:58 pm: [report]
I was watching the 2006 Golden Globes and completely cringed when Mizrahi groped ScarJo and Teri Hatcher. And then I got really mad about it when they both just stood there awkwardly instead of confronting him about it. I don’t blame either of them—I know there have been times when I’ve been too stunned to react—but I just can’t believe how accepted it was. Women’s bodies are not public property! Just because Scarlet Johansson has beautiful ample breasts does not give you the right to fondle them. I don’t care who you are or what your orientation is. Jeez. I can’t believe there is even any doubt about this.
Claire0213
wrote on August 17 2009 @ 08:35 pm: [report]
Yes they definitely can! I have a friend who’s gay and feels that it’s ok to just grab my breasts. It’s completely inappropriate and when i call him on it he just says something along the lines of me “Getting Feisty” or being bitchy. It’s so obnoxious because everyone else just says o well he’s gay. Well, that just does NOT make it ok.
MarieMacCee
wrote on August 22 2009 @ 06:31 pm: [report]
yes they totally can! I was at a bar once and this very obviously gay man came up to my group and started talking to us. He kept on referring to the vagine as ‘creama’ and talking about what he would like to do to me when he took me home while simultaneously telling us how horribly his father reacted when he came out. He then pitched a fit when I left the table to hit on my now-boyfriend and ended the evening by trying to push me off a curb because i wouldn’t go home with him and then calling my boyfriend homophobic because he took offense to some stranger putting his hands on me violently. That gay man put his hands on me more aggressively than any straight man ever has.