Sexualized behaviors are actions that involve some level of sensuality or intimate contact between people. This could be anything from kissing to more explicit activities like intercourse. In many organizations, these behaviors become part of stories told among employees to make sense of their experiences or provide entertainment for others. These stories can take the form of jokes, rumors, anecdotes, or myths about certain individuals or groups within the organization.
One story might be about how a particular employee is always flirting with coworkers or constantly making suggestive comments. Another story might be about how a group of workers go out drinking together after work and engage in risky behavior. Myths and narratives surrounding these behaviors often circulate in organizational cultures as ways to bond members together through shared experiences or reinforce existing social hierarchies. The way sexualized behaviors shape organizational storytelling is complex because they can both create and challenge dominant narratives about power dynamics and gender roles. On the one hand, sexualized behaviors can be used to justify unequal treatment or exploitation of marginalized groups by claiming that those individuals "asked for it" or deserve what happens to them. On the other hand, sexualized behaviors can also be subversive challenges to traditional norms and create new opportunities for self-expression and resistance within organizations.
Understanding how sexualized behaviors impact organizational storytelling requires looking at both how they reinforce existing power structures and how they allow for new possibilities for individual agency and collective action.
We will explore three key ways in which sexualized behaviors shape organizational storytelling, myth-making, and cultural narratives: (1) creating hierarchical relationships between men and women; (2) perpetuating harmful stereotypes about gender and sexuality; and (3) promoting solidarity among employees who experience discrimination based on their sex or sexuality.
How do sexualized behaviors shape organizational storytelling, myth-making, and cultural narratives?
Sexualization has become an increasingly prevalent theme in contemporary media and popular culture. The stereotypical representation of women as sex objects, such as through hypersexualized advertisements, films, and television shows, contributes to gendered social norms that portray men as dominant and powerful while reducing women's roles to their physical appearance.