Talking Past Each other about Sexual Harassment: An Exploration of Frames for Understanding

Abstract

Sexual harassment, a form of violence against women, occasions considerable debate but little communication. Using newspaper reports as texts, the authors identify four common media frames that not only raise different expectations about defining behavior as harassing and people as harassers, but also suggest different courses of action in response to the behavior. The judicial frame compares behaviors to legal policies or statutes and suggests reactive strategies. The victim frame emphasizes harm or injury to the victim(s), suggesting social change. The initiator frame defines the (mis)behavior as acceptable and implies that no change in behavior is necessary. The social science frame, structured around reliable and valid operational definitions, integrates the other approaches.

Masculinity, Organizational Culture, Media Framing and Sexual Violence in the Military

“…In some cases, extreme violence is used, while, in other cases, it is not, but they are all sexual crimes that are sometimes defended by those who believe in rape myths and live within the rape culture (Bing and Lombardo 1997). Organizations that are influenced by social schemas, which define what masculinity is supposed to be, regarding sexuality and crime, have difficulty dealing with sexual violence.…”

“…Some examples of media frames are: human-interest frames (Semetko and Valkenburg 2000), personal frames (Entman 1993), and the social science frame (Bing and Lombardo 1997). Semetko and Valkenburg (2000, p. 95) identified the human-interest frame as "bringing a human face or an emotional angle to the presentation of an event, issue, or problem."…”

“…Personal frames, as discussed by Entman (1993), revolve around how the media makes personal issues salient to the public in ways that encourage empathy. Bing and Lombardo (1997) presented the social science frame as a common occurrence in print media that is focused on an objective reader. The writers who use this frame tend to remain outside the specifics of particular cases and explore the issues at hand in a more general and abstract approach (Bing and Lombardo 1997).…”

Women, Cycling, and the Public Sphere: How Discursive and Community Practices Affect Engagement

“…Feminist CDA takes that critical focus and concentrates special attention to gender as a critical lens of analysis. The critical lens offered by FCDA and CDA fit the needs of this project well since the purpose of my research project is to examine women cyclists within the context of the Miami cycling community, while giving consideration to the wider social context, or frames from which interviewees are operating within (Bing and Lombardo, 1997).…”

“…Following the work of Bing and Lombardo (1997) (Holmes, 1990) and repetition strategies (Tannen, 1987).…”