Agony: May 6

This week on Agony, the team discuss the question of when Flirting crosses a line into
Harassment.

Feminism has been a thing since 1894, yet some men still don’t know the difference between flirtation and sexual harassment. In fact, a number of them continue to be concerned that by condemning sexual harassment, we will somehow accidentally sweep up well-meaning compliments and flirting as well.

But women say there’s no need to panic and that women are still happy to flirt and be told they look nice, but they shouldn’t be treated like sex objects or have to put up with catcalls from building sites. Sounds fair.

But the problem is some men have enjoyed positive responses from women after whistling at them from building sites and that’s why they continue to do it. So where’s the line? Feminists say that most men should be able to work out the difference between complimenting someone and harassing them. The clue is in the word: ‘harassment’. But are they overestimating men? Or do different women enjoy different kinds of interactions?

9pm Wednesday on ABC.