Overview

This transformative book examines men's and women's changing attitudes toward sex and gender in the US workplace. Between 1870 and 1970, white-collar office work became the leading form of employment for American women. As more and more women took office jobs, men and women workers attempted to make sense of this new environment where the workplace became a site of gendered power negotiations: Emotional and sexual desires entangled with ""rational"" operating procedures. Drawing on a wide range of primary sources including government investigation reports, scandal papers, memoirs, and advice literature, Julie Berebitsky describes how women perceived and responded to male desire and discrimination in the office. She also offers keen insight into how popular media —cartoons, advertisements, and a wide array of fictional accounts— represented wanted and unwelcome romantic and sexual advances in the workplace. Now in paperback for the first time, this compelling edition includes a foreword that brings Berebitsky's work into the present, where the Trump presidencies, MeToo movement, and global pandemic provide striking illustrations of the book's enduring relevance. An afterword reflects on Berebitsky's lasting impact as a feminist, teacher, and scholar in the fields of labor history and women's studies.

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9781469691411

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Berebitksy provides essential historical context, revealing how female sexual subordination was baked into office culture from the 1860s, and her keen analysis of gendered power dynamics illuminates a path forward."" --Kimberly Hamlin, author of Free Thinker: Sex, Suffrage, and the Extraordinary Life of Helen Hamilton Gardener ""In centering the office as a site of sexualized power across a long historical span, Julie Berebitksy's Sex and the Office broke new ground. More than a decade later, this new edition is testament to the lasting importance of this utterly foundational piece of scholarship."" --Margot Canaday, author of Queer Career: Sexuality and Work in Modern America ""Since the rise (and fall) of #MeToo, I often have returned to Sex and the Office. Julie Berebitsky's book remains essential reading for a historical perspective on sexual harassment.""--Eileen Boris, University of California, Santa Barbara ""Stories make history come alive, and Julie Berebitsky's deeply researched and nuanced study of sex and the modern office is chock-full of them. A thought-provoking and timely intervention."" --Susan Ware, author of Why They Marched: Untold Stories of the Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote

Author Information

Julie Berebitsky was professor of history and founding director of the women's and gender studies program at Sewanee: The University of the South. Katherine Turk is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Katherine Parkin is professor of history and the Jules Plangere, Jr. Endowed Chair in American Social History at Monmouth University. Julie Berebitsky was professor of history and founding director of the women's and gender studies program at Sewanee: The University of the South.

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