Leslie --
I do not have any cartoons to offer, but instead would like to
offer a word of caution. Depending on the cartoons chosen and the context
in which they are presented, there is a risk that the cartoons would
trivialize the harm of sexual harassment. For instance, the general in
"Beetle Bailey" is always leering at the blonde secretary, but that's the
joke, right?
Sexual harassment training can be very emotionally charged -- some
of the people in the audience may be wondering what all the fuss is about;
some may be harassed; some may be harassers. A cartoon that the attorney
intends to "break the ice" might instead start a series of off-color
jokes, or inadvertently give the message that the training session is a
joke.
In some cases, cartoons have been used as an instrument of sexual
harassment. (I ran a quick search on LEXIS -- labor;mega; sexual
harassment and comic or cartoon -- and found 82 cases.) When I was in law
school, several female students who were outspoken feminists found in
their mailboxes a Playboy cartoon showing a male client propositioning a
female attorney, remarking that he'd always wanted to ____ an attorney.
The students' names were written in on the desk name plate in the cartoon.
The cartoon *illustrated* sexual harassment (in this case, third-party
harassment of the attorney by the client); it also *perpetrated*
harassment, sending the message that somebody objected to these students'
positions on women's issues at the law school.
Bearing these caveats in mind, if the attorney does want to have
cartoons, I would suggest leafing through collections of "Cathy," "Sally
Forth," and "Sylvia." These strips have dealt with some serious
workplace issues. I can't think of specific examples, but they would be
unlikely to change the tone of a presentation in the way that, say,
"Beetle Bailey" or Playboy cartoons would.
=====Mary Whisner, Head of Reference======================
=====Gallagher Law Library, University of Washington======
=====whisner@u.washington.edu=============================
On Tue, 20 Feb 1996, Leslie Hesdorfer wrote:
> One of our attorneys has asked me to locate cartoons depicting sexual
> harassment to use as overheads to spice up a presentation on preventing
> sexual harassment she will be doing for some clients. I know I've run
> across some in the past, but have not saved them. Does anyone have any
> you would be willing to share? Fax is probably best, since we will
> most likely have to get clean copies/permission from the publisher before
> using.
>
> Thank you!
>
> Leslie Hesdorfer
> Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft
> San Francisco
> (415)981-5550
> fax (415)955-2599
>
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