RECALLING HARASSMENT, RECONSTRUCTING EXPERIENCE

In this study we examine how events that may have been called ''normal '' or ''acceptable'' by some people at one time are recalled and recon structed as ''harassment.'' Four interviewers conducted open-ended uns tructured interviews with 21 women about incidents in which sex was no t the ostensible purpose of the encounter but sexual innuendo and in s ome cases assault was the result. The analysis of their stories explor es how they experienced events that at the time were not called ''sexu al harassment'' but that they now call by that name. The respondents d escribe themselves as having been ''naive'' or ''gullible'' and having felt ''guilty'' or ''ashamed.'' In analyzing these stories the paper compares the experiences of ''preverbal'' children and adults who reca ll events that have been reconceptualized as assaultive rather than ac ceptable.