Where's the Joke? The Meaning Behind Sexual Humor

Abstract

To laugh or not to laugh? That seems to be the question. With every article on workplace stress comesanother recommendation for including more humor on the job. However, there is corresponding researchshowing that office humor may lead to such negative repercussions as sexual harassment charges. In 1980the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published the guidelines that define sexualharassment as "Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physicalconduct of a sexual nature" (Rutter, 1997, p. 10). These guidelines also define harassment as the creationof a hostile or intimidating working environment; it is such an environment that serves as the basis fornumerous work-related lawsuits. The EEOC classifies unwelcome behavior into seven forms, andaccording to a U. S. Merit Systems Protection Board study, the most frequent form cited includes "sexualteasing, jokes, remarks, or questions" (Rutter, 1997, p. 11).