Sexualization of workplace cultures
Sexual harassment and objectification have been a persistent problem for many years now. Women have always faced difficulties regarding their rights at workplaces due to gender discrimination. With time, this culture has shifted from workplace to society too. It is no longer limited to physical touching or verbal abuse but also includes subtle yet hurtful actions such as staring, whistling, and passing lewd comments. In today's world, it can be seen that people are more open about their personal lives, and they do not hesitate to discuss their sexual experiences at work. But, in some cases, these conversations go out of hand, leading to an unhealthy working environment. The rise of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., has made things worse than before. People often share explicit photos and videos on social media, making others feel unsafe at work. Many organizations have adopted policies against such behaviors, but that does not change much because people tend to ignore them. There are numerous examples where people who make such remarks or jokes are not punished by their employers. This situation leads to a lot of stress among employees, which further affects their mental health and productivity levels.
Mental health issues
The sexualized culture in any organization causes mental health issues to its workers. When women face harassment at their workplace, they start feeling depressed and anxious. They lose confidence in themselves and feel unsafe even in the company of colleagues. This results in poor communication skills with peers, which leads to fewer promotions, lesser paychecks, and isolation. Such individuals become more sensitive towards small gestures that can lead to further trouble for them. Moreover, the lack of support from seniors and managers makes things more difficult for them. As a result, these women find it hard to focus on their jobs, which eventually contributes to burnout. Women suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, insomnia, depression, and other mental illnesses due to the sexualized culture at workplaces. Apart from women, men also suffer from similar problems as their female colleagues due to this culture. It is common for men to experience increased anxiety and depression when they see their coworkers being objectified and harassed. The lack of support from senior management makes matters worse for both genders.
Stress
Stress is another problem faced by employees who have to deal with a sexualized environment. It is common for people to be stressed out if they are not comfortable with the working conditions at their workplace. They often have to put up with unwanted comments and actions made against them without getting support from anyone. They end up feeling helpless because they cannot do much about such situations. People may try to avoid talking about these issues or ignore them altogether to protect themselves from additional problems. But, ignoring such behavior is not helpful, especially when you face it every day. Thus, employees tend to suffer from high levels of stress, leading to severe health issues like heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, etc. Employees feel helpless because they know that nothing will happen even if they complain. Such situations lead to demotivation among workers and poor performance levels. The productivity levels decrease drastically in such environments, affecting the organization's profits directly. This further encourages the same kind of behavior among fellow employees, which can go on for years unless there are strict policies against it.
Burnout
Burnout is an extreme form of stress that results from prolonged exposure to hostile workplace cultures. Many organizations do not take action against sexually charged culture in the company as they fear losing talented individuals.
This does not stop them from getting burned out due to the continuous harassment. When workers are subjected to such conditions for a long time, it becomes difficult for them to cope up with pressure and workload. Their bodies react adversely and cause several diseases that can be life-threatening. The employees develop physical symptoms such as back pain, headaches, neck aches, digestive problems, insomnia, etc., due to the excessive burden. They become emotionally exhausted and find it challenging to handle their responsibilities at work, leading to burnout. This situation leads to a lot of unproductive hours, missed deadlines, increased absenteeism, etc., resulting in reduced output. It also creates a negative image of the company among its clients and stakeholders. This eventually leads to losses in sales and reputation, which makes it harder for businesses to recover quickly.
What are the consequences of sexualized culture on employee mental health, stress, and burnout?
The rise of sexualized culture has become an increasingly prevalent phenomenon in many workplaces across the globe. This cultural shift has undoubtedly had significant implications for employees' mental health, stress levels, and overall job satisfaction. One study found that employees who perceived their workplace as having a high level of sexualization reported higher levels of stress than those who did not (Johns & Pryor, 2019).