We are, of course, amazed that our readers occasionally disagree with our brilliant and witty essays. In fact, sometimes quite a few readers think that The Outrage editors are wrong, misanthropic, idiotic, selfish, deluded, or all of the above.

Mother Outrage always told us that even the dull and the ignorant should have their say, so we've allowed space below for those dissenting opinions (and for shameless flattery).

Read the 2nd set of comments about this Outrage!

I have been charges with sexual herassment only once inmy life. It was for smling and saying hello when I walked in to th ebuilding for work. Can someone please esplaine where sex came into that?

This is exactly the same nonsense that happens in divorce court. Some woman walks in with silicone and a fake tan and wines about how the big bad man did this and that and the other. All the while knowing that her and her sleeze bag lawyer are going to get a fat payday. All I have to say on this is...Women, if you get your money from a man, or from a corporation, blaming a man, then you are a WHORE. Plain and simple. If you wear a slinky little what-not and a man looks, then feel complimented that he looks at all. Many fat ugly women would love to be in your shoes. In hollywood, if a producer "harrasses" you in the office, you sleep with him, and get a starring role in his next feature film. You don't here THOSE women saying THEY were victims. If a man is harrassing you and it is a LEGITIMATE problem, then report it to the proper authorities. Charge the guy with unlawful assault. Or if it is not that far, kick him in the nads or stand up for yourself. Listen, if a man is taunted at work by the fat lady from Mississippi, that says in the south it is OK for them to comment on your buns, and does not get a payday, then you aren't either. Period.

If a joke offends you, GET OVER IT! I see things everyday that offend me. IT IS CALLED LIFE. If you don't like it, TOUGH! Get another job! You are NOT entitled to anything more than the guy next to you. Period.....

Hmmm... seems to me if someone were to copy and paste this outrage, and then e-mailed it to a female cow-orker, they'd quite likely get sued for sexual harassment. Heh. Seems like a fun experiment. I don't work, so somebody else will have to do it. Any takers, in the interests of science?

Ladies,

My two cents: if some jerk is harassing you, (and I mean REAL harassment, not compliments misinterpreted by those with fragile self-images as harassment), tell him to stop. If he does not stop, knee him in the sack. It's that simple. I don't care how big he is, a knee in the nads will take him down. The best part is, no harassing guy will EVER admit to being literally brought to his knees by a woman, so you'll get off scott-free. Also, unless the guy is REALLY stupid, he'll think twice before opening his filthy mouth to you again.

NOBODY should have to feel uncomfortable or unsafe at work. If some a**hole is persistant in his harassment of you, he deserves a good bash in the balls. If, however, you just can't bring yourself to physically hurt the oaf, get in his face and insult him back. The best way to do this is to say something along the lines of, "If I thought your pathetic little c**k could satisfy me, I just MIGHT take that remark seriously, but I don't, so f**k off and die". As a woman, there is nothing you can say that is more hurtful to a man's all-important ego than to insult his sexual prowess, or the size of his penis.

So, either knee his groin or insult it. Either way, he won't say anything to anyone out of shame, and you'll definitely get your message across.

I believe both side here have a legitimate gripe. Yes, women are being harrassed. Yes, it is wrong and someone should hang those people up by their privates to let some of that blood to rush back to their brain.

And yes, sexual harrassment suits have gone out of control. Why hasn't our ever-present, legislation happy government set some standards for this type of litigation and try limiting the booty plundered by these suits?

Some respondents have eluded to the idea that women get more than the benefit of the doubt in these types of cases. I agree. However, in the situation of a rape case, they never seem to get that benefit. Isn't that odd? Why, when there seems to be strong physical evidence, does a have to fight such an uphill battle to get her attacker convicted? But in a sexual harrassment case, all a woman seems to have to do is sing a little song of hear-say and the cash starts flowing.

Some of the female respondents have answered other comments by saying that the men should file suit as well if they feel they are being wronged. Who would believe us? It reminds me of a situation that occured when I was in college. A headline hit the papers about a young male student reporting to campus police that he had been raped by a woman in his dorm. I'll bet that kid now thinks that was the dumbest thing he ever did in his life. Word had it that the police actually laughed while questioning him. All his friends thought he was a wimp. He ended up leaving school within a month. The ridicule he had to face was too much. And that is how our society looks at men. We are sexual freaks who harrass women 24-7, and if we don't we must be gay. Sad.

I just read the essay entitled "WE HAVE A DREAM". Who ever is the author of this should write more stuff. This is the sort of thought provoking stuff that more people should be able to read without fear of social acceptance, or lack of same. Well said.

It truely is a sad thing that sexual harrassment has gotten out of control. The WORST part about this, is what if a woman makes a claim against you that is totally false, or rather over blown as they first flirt with you in the workplace. What if a women who talks about getting breast implants with you, then after she gets them asks what I think about them. What if this same woman has a history of psych problems, including trying to kill herself and also being diagnosed with hearing voices. What if this girl decides to sue YOU even though you felt it was mutual with NO kind of warning because you EVEN have a female witness that HEARD and SAW this women say to you " hey do my breasts look to large in this outfit". Do you think this woman could win in court? WELL YES .. SHE DID and ruined a friend of mines life. I do believe that there are legitamate claims out there, but there are ALOT of flase claims and the women WIN !!!!! This is a sad world we live in with currupt lawyers and judges and people who file false claims and just want people to "SHOW THEM THE MONEY".

So back in the good old days, the trick was just to tell the well-intentioned-but-over-insistent gentleman that he should please leave you alone, and if that didn't do the trick (here's a clue for you: it NEVER works), then you should sic your boyfriend or husband on him.

Tell me something: how would YOU like to go to work every day and know that the only thing you can do to keep the hands of the jerk you work for off of your behind and your crotch is by telling your spouse to attack and/or kill him?

Honestly. Think about it for a minute. Think about someone who is 8 inches taller, 100 pounds heavier, and much stronger than you, someone you find physically repulsive, grabbing your privates and whispering something filthy in your ear. Or you can even take the physical component out of it. He doesn't touch you. He just looms over you, and tells you how much he'd like to <mmmph> you and <ugggh> you and put his <erk> in your <yuck>.

Are you seriously telling me this is no big deal? That women should just learn to put up with it, or else resort to physical violence, or threats of violence?

What freakin' planet are you on?

Or, let's say that you go home and tell your wife about this. (I'll assume you're a man.) She is so enraged about it, that she calls your boss, screams into the phone that he's a dead man, then goes over to your work and a) shoots him dead, b) is shot dead by him, c) beats him with a baseball bat or d) is beaten by him.

Which one of these scenarios do you consider to be good?

Demonizing all women involved in sexual harassment litigation as slimy, money-grubbing goldbrickers is intellectually equivalent to demonizing all men as slimy, hormone-driven rapists. It's lazy. It's mediocre. It's lame. You can do better.

And just because rape is a worse crime than harassment (here's another clue: harassment frequently precedes rape), it doesn't mean that we should sweep harassment under the rug and tell women, "It's all in your head, lil missy. Just ignore it." If you can't understand that, then you have a bigger problem than not being able to understand women, as you mockingly confess to elsewhere. You have no ability to understand ANYONE other than yourself. You cannot empathize with what it means for someone to be routinely harassed, intimidated and threatened. You scoff at that as something of no consequence. It IS of consequence, very great consequence.

You may be right that some sexual harassment lawsuits are more about power and money than right and wrong. I'm not qualified to say. But by your logic, we should do away with elections too, because there have obviously been rigged and corrupted elections in this country. From now on, we'll just get you to appoint our leaders for us. And if we don't like our leaders, we can order our spouses to kill them.

although the author makes very good points, an individual usually can only receive a percentage of their their income...lost wages...etc.; unless they have a high paid/profile job...

I don't plan on commenting on, other than, the basic premise of this treatise. Sexual harassment can extend from cutesy remarks and harm- less double entendre' at the water cooler, all the way to actual physical mauling and sexual advances that go, well beyond "unacceptable behavior" in any civil social setting.We all lnow what constitutes "sexual harassment" in todays lexicon. Harking back to my many years in the work force, usually in an office setting, it's been my observation that most (operative word "most") examples of so-called sexual harassment situations don't even begin to approach what is considered to be the "unwanted" advancements of a "sexual" nature. I have never worked in an office atmosphere where other than a healthy,normal social interaction takes place. What I'm suggesting, in a nutshell, is that one girls "unwanted sexual advancements", is another girls prospective date for dinner and dancing on Saturday night. Many girls, as well as many of their male counterparts, see the "office" as a prime source for possible marraige material. And why not? The "office" is a great place to see people in many roles. How they interact with others, how they express themselves in varied ways. And how others view them. I've seen a number of cases where two people meet in an office setting, flirt, date, get engaged, marry and have children. Where some feminists may construe this scenario as "OFFICE RAPE!"....I see it as whimsy. Where some "male bashing" feminist may view casual social interaction in an office atmosphere as "MALE CHAUVINISTIC PIGGERY", I see a very normal, very natural occurance. If this is grounds for hauling some guy who winks at a girl, or compliments her for her tasteful attire, or beauty, into a court of law to be branded a RAPIST or a MOLESTER or a SEX MANIAC, then I am definitely living on the wrong planet! So to my feminist friends all that I can say is try, try, try to get some semblence of a life. Stop trying to stem the tide of testosterone and/or other of the hormonal juices that course through our collective veins... Thank you so much!

I took real pride in telling my prospective son in law that his bride could outshoot both her brothers who were both experts with a revolver.

Should read "Victims Lawyers get rich".

This issue brings to the surface much of the same sludge that has been forming on the bottom of our Ship of State since the early part of this century. Legal plunder has been practiced and promoted by our "government" to the point where now the everyday citizen is finding ways to include himself/herself in the looting. What it comes down to is that the money awarded these self-proclaimed victims is not taken from the "offending" company, because the company has a bottom line to look out for. Rather, it is taken from all the rest of us in the form of higher prices for the products the company produces. The company isn't the perpetrator of the abuse. The Board of Directors and the management know this, and will simply pass off the cost to the consumers. We all end up paying the settlement. It is nothing short of robbery. Those who exploit real abuse in this system which promotes victimization-for-profit and legalized plunder are as criminal as those who have steered us in this direction. The Lawyers and the Politicians have invited us to share in the booty and by joining them, we condemn ourselves. I am LDS by religion. Our Book of Mormon tells of a time when another people were faced with a similar situation. Their lawyers and lesser politicians conspired together to take control of the government, and joined with a band of robbers and murderers. The leader of the band writes a letter to the chief official asking for his surrender. Here are his words:

"...yield yourselves up unto us, and unite with us and become acquainted with our secret works, and become our brethren that ye may be like unto us--not our slaves, but our brethren and partners of all our substance."

The substance he spoke of was obtained by robbery, plunder, and if necessary, murder. In other words, "help us in committing plunder and robbery; be like us." Are we not facing a similar situation here? Are the lawyers not inviting those who will to join with them and become partners of all their substance, which substance they obtain by exploiting issues such as this, and making work for themselves? How long will it take us to wake up? It is good to see that many are awake, but so many more would prefer to join in the spoils.

I, myself, was recently accused of sexual harrassment by a new co-worker because I remarked to her supervisor (a woman) that her clothing was too risque for the office. I am one of the owners of the company and I feel I have the right to point out such things. I didn't pay much attention to the accusation, and ultimately, pressure was put upon the accuser by her female colleagues (who know me better than that) to retract the charge. All without my interference. I am glad to have such friends. They understood that since we are a fairly new company, any major settlement, especially a frivolous one, might spell the end of the company, and with it their jobs. The accuser still works for us, by the way, and I harbor no ill feelings towards her. Her job is secure, unless she changes that on her own. We base everything on job skills and performance. I find it disturbing that we have twisted the meaning of "sexual harrassment" to include anything at all. It caused an otherwise reasonable person to become completely unreasonable. This twisted definition fostered the "hostile working environment" in our office, effectively creating the very situation it purports to remedy. Such nonsense ought to be done away with.

I hope I have made some sense here.

"Thanos"

Funny how some people come up with the old mantra : "you can't generalise". They're most of the times just about to counter with another generalisation. "I was harassed at work by some psycho so women are entitled to sue for 999 gazillion bucks". No, sisters, I shall repeat for theoutrage that we _want_ rape and serious harassment to be effectively punished and we don't want some leech to nail us if we say the wrong thing in the wrong presence. Go and get all offended and humiliated, on that and sue me, I've got no money.

Yours affectionately.

PS : thumbs up to those who have the guts to give their e-mail addresses ! Replace XXX with com to e-mail me.

Keep up the great work! I'm heartened by the fact that it is becoming easier and easier to find "the other side of the story" on the Internet, and you're part of that!

Like the responses to most articles about the flip side of gender issues, yours has garnered its fair share of responses trumpeting the standard feminist line. I notice that the article about the woman who killed her lover and received a slap on the wrist didn't generate such heat... precisely because respondents could frame it as "rich versus poor". The truth is that society still considers women's motives to be above reproach. Unlike some of the other respondents, I don't see your article as condoning harassment; instead, you're simply pointing out what should be obvious: women don't ALWAYS do what they do for pure, honest reasons. Sometimes they lie and cheat. They're people, too. What a concept.

Unfortunately, at the moment this is heresy. It's a joke, really. Feminists themselves should be most outraged by stories like this. After all, ridiculous suits and false allegations only hasten the day when no one takes these claims, including the valid ones, seriously. Trying to justify outrages like this trivializes cases in which women are legitimately aggrieved.

This is slowly changing, and sites like this are part of the change. I hope that the pendulum doesn't swing in the opposite direction: to a world in which claims of abuse are ignored. Sadly, I think it will, mostly because the responses here demonstrate that many people can't distinguish reasonable objections from foaming-at-the-mouth dogma. How sad.

I worked for a company in Florida and was sexually harassed on the job. One of my bosses would come in every morning and ask if I had gotten any the night before. I told him I thought it was unappropriate for him to be asking me that, then I went to the other boss. He happened to be the son-in-law of the other man. I went to the state employment commission and reported it to them. Their response was to keep working there because jobs are hard to find and that I may not get a job that paid as much as that one did. I went back to work the next day and told them that things better change. It stayed the same, so I got them where it hurt. They were cheating the government on income taxes. I made a few phone calls and eventually had to go to court to testify. Now they are both sitting in a federal prison for income tax evasion. I think my revenge was justified. I sleep very well at night knowing that the scum I worked for knows that I was responsible for putting them there.

A few comments...

1) Getting someone to hit someone else leaves them open to assualt charges.

2) It is really about time women clear up the whole question of how they would like sex to be initiated. Then once we all know the right way, then we can go back to the discussion of what to do with the guys who persist in doing it the wrong way.

Auugghh!! You people grow the hell up! These suits do not represent some feminist conspiracy to take people's money. Women are not trying to portray themselves as victims. Sexual harassment is indeed a problem. Of course, men are incapable of sympathizing with women on this issue because we, as a whole, don't know what it's like. Why? Can't we imagine ourselves in the reverse situation? Are you serious? Men are sex-starved creatures. If women turned the tables, we'd be all for it! So it only follows that most men feel like this is not a real problem. Unfortunately, our lack of ability to see things through the eyes of another person is what keeps sexual harassment from going away. Therefore...the big conclusion...hit men where it hurts--their bank accounts. I'm all for suing the stuff out of some slob who can't control himself in a place of business. Put your pants on, get back to your desk, and get to work. If I see the little thing again, I will sue you for $100,000. Men will listen to THAT!

I Agree that sexual harrasment claims have gotten out of hand. I think if a man OR woman is found guilty of this offense they should be terminated and there should be a cap on the amount a person could receive. But until men or women finally get the picture, that its not okay to wisper dirty jokes into there co-workers ears,this will be a never ending battle.

I agree that the whole lawsuit thing has gotten quite out of hand. These women are just trying to get money in their pocket. Why don't they just shut up deal with it and move on with their lives? If it's happening get someone to take care of the person for you. Don't run out and file a lawsuit that is just plain dumb and immature. These days you can sue anybody just for the hell of it and I think people are abusing this power for their own use. For example trying to get money in their pocket or getting famous. Ladies just say STOP!

So, what is the point of this site? To outrage those who view it?

I'll agree that the settlement amounts have gotten out of hand, but you seem to be denying that anyone has ever done anything wrong to anyone. You seem to be saying that this is what a woman should expect if she takes a job.

What if I approach a male coworker and tell him how much I want to do X, Y and Z with him? If I fondle him? Is that right?

I think it boils down to "treat others as you would like to be treated".

the catastrophe of this generation is the greed that oozes from its behavior. Everybody wants to get rich quick. This is the instant generation. But I am of old fashoined values of which teaches that anything worth having is worth working for. It's a sad commentary that sexual harrassment has been exploited to such degrees. I do believe that there are some legitimate cases that should be tried and punished, but millions of dollars for something that is often, not always, provoked is a stain in the fabric of our generation.

I don't have a lot of time because I am on my lunch break and have had only a few minutes to browse this web page, but from what I have read so far I can honestly say that I wish that I lived in the same world as most of the readers who have posted their comments. I am going to assume that most of the readers of this page are educated individuals that understand that laws exist in order to protect people but may not work all of the time. It is by no means a perfect system, but most of the time it works. Yes, many of the harassment claims are outrageous, monetarily speaking, but that doesn't justify blanketing women as a whole and suggesting that all suexual harassment claims can be handled on one's own or by one's boyfriend. These comments suggest that this law is useless and has no place in modern day society. What if it was your mother, sister, or wife that was truly harassed? Do you think a few punches to the face and good swift kick in the crotch of the offender would do the trick? Last time I checked, I think that the guy could then press assault charges and then you would be forced to call up one of those "pond scum" lawyers to defend your ass! It is very easy to generalize about things that we have never experienced personally. I have been in situations where comments/actions could have escalated to an unacceptable level, but I was able to stop it before it started. Not all women can do this, and not all men will accept the warnings either. For this very reason, the law exists. It is here to protect those who could not deter the situation. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. And to those men who feel that these sexual harassment claims are so outlandish...how much did your favorite quarterback or wide receiver make this year? Do you think they deserve everything they get? Probably not, but it's called "living in America." Everything isn't fair and you may not agree with a lot of things that other people do, but when you least expect it, things can happen that cause you to view things differently so it is probably a good idea not to generalize too much - especially when it is about something that you read about in the paper or on a web page. If everyone would consider the source, and quit making rash judgments about things they know nothing about, this world would be a much better place. But, I wasn't born yesterday so I know that will never happen, besides, you guys wouldn't have anything to write into this web page and whine about...makes for a very dull day, doesn't it???

Once again women are screwing the whole world up.

I know how we men can get a piece of the Sexual harrasment Pie!....I say we sue one of the big corporations that use sexual messages and/or images to pomote their products. My basis for damages would be that I was "mentally revised" by the constant onslaught of sexual messages within the advertising and as a result My view of women was tainted, that women who dress in tight clothing and wear certain brands of perfume, clothing, and makeup have only one goal in mind: To engage in sex. Therefore, I was subjected to humiliation and ridicule when I apprached females fitting the profile and asked them for sex, I was slapped, punched, kicked, and made out to be a twisted letch, In my confused state of mind. I became unable to perform my normal job functions and suffered irrepairable damages. This ought to work. Probably worth Millions. Just remember. You sue a company and win. remember the little people who got you there.

hmmmmmm.. interesting.... there was a fellow where I used to worll if I had to bend over to pick something up he would say, "Ummmm ... honney, while you're down there..." and another fellow... good grief!.. he asked me out and when I said no he threatened me a few times... and then he cornered me by the coffee machine.. and then he grabbed my arm.. then he started trying to run me over in the parking lot!

The first fellow I got brave and told to knock it off or he would be sorry and I didn't need a guy to kick him in the.... well you know what I mean... and as for the second fellow... I went to my boss.. SHE said he ws probably trying to flirt.. I said he needed lessons from a real man. I went to my bosses boss... HE said.. well I will have a talk with him... Then the second fellow really decied I needed to die for saying no and ratting him out.. and tried to pull me out behind the building!.. I went to my bosses bosses boss!... this MAN said "I will take care of this"... and I worried the next morning on the way in.. what is guy #2 going to do to me now that I have gone so high!....

Well I had worried for nothing... the harrassor never came back to work.... as a matter of fact.. he didn't even come in to clean out his locker! I wonder sometimes if he is wearing cement slippers in the local river.

I wonder when I see this Harrassment charge stuff if these women even bothered to go through proper channels first or if they simply run to the lawyers over lunch hour! and as far as worrying over getting fired.... well if it comes to that.. that is when it's time to call a lawyer.. and not before!

Supposedly women are equal! supposedly.. well if they were they wouldn't need a lawyer and a few milloin bucks to get their point across!

Lia