The paradox of complaining: Law, humor, and harassment in the everyday work world

This article addresses the question of women's seeming rejection of sexual harassment law by refusing to apply the label "sexual harassment" in the fa ce of incidents that would easily qualify as such. Building on the work of Bumiller (1988) and the tradition of sociolegal studies focusing on underst anding the power of the law in its everyday context (e.g., Merry 1979; Enge l 1987; Sarat and Kearns 1993), this analysis explores the "tactical milieu " in which both hostile work environment sexual harassment and tactics for its resistance are produced. Using in-depth interviews with both women and men, the author explores the ways a particular form of hostile work environ ment harassment-dubbed "chain yanking"-poaches on the realm of ambiguous hu mor to effect male grout, solidarity anal women's disempowerment. A common countertactic-"not taking it personal"-is analyzed for its simultaneous pow er as resistance and unwitting collaboration. The contradictory effects of this tactic-countertactic pairing on the naming and claiming of the harm of sexual harassment are examined, as well as the implications this has for c ombating sexual harassment in the workplace.