Tailhook and the construction of sexual harassment in the media: Rowdy navy boys and the women who made a difference

By examining the reporting of the Tailhook incident in the mainstream media from the event itself through the conclusion of military and congressional debates about its meaning 5 yrs later, this article demonstrates that the media construct representations that are in accordance with the dominant gender ideology. The military's interpretation of Tailhook--"boys will be boys" with "party girls"--was contested by the women who were harassed and assaulted. Although the military's cover-up of the incident was interrupted by the intervention of powerful women in the Senate, media coverage reinforced the dominant view of sexual harassment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2002 APA, all rights reserved)
Author: 
Kasinsky,Renee Goldsmith
Notes: 
LA- English AN- 1999-10671-005
Reprint Status: 
IN FILE
Start Page: 
81
End Page: 
99
Journal/Periodical Name: 
Violence Against Women
Volume: 
4
Issue: 
1
Abstract: 
This article examines how the media reported the Tailhook incident from the occurrence of the incident itself through the conclusion of military and congressional debates about its meaning 5 years later. The authors state that, although the military's cover-up of the incident was interrupted by women in the Senate, the media reports paralleled the dominant gender ideology of boys will be boys, thereby reinforcing the view that sexual harassment is tolerable.
Topic Areas: 
Harassment; military; myths/stereotypes
Reference Type: 
JOUR
Reference ID: 
185
Publication Date: 
1998/02