"Hands" by Sherwood Anderson
According to the AAUW survey these are the most frequently types of sexual harassment experienced in school in grades 8–11:
Types of Sexual Harassment Experienced: Girls Boys
sexual comments, jokes, gestures, or looks 76% 56%
Touched, grabbed, or pinched in a sexual way 65% 42%
Intentionally brushed up against in a sexual way 57% 36%
flashed or mooned 49% 41%
had sexual rumors spread about them 42% 34%
had clothing pulled at in a sexual manner 38% 28%
Presented by Estephanie Barragan
The End
Teachers and Students
What happened in "Hands"
- Interpretations vary depending on whose perspective it is coming from.
- Warped sense of how to express love for children
- What is sexual harassment? Two forms
- Quid Pro Quo
- Hostile environment harassment
That is why " Hands" could be perceived as sexual harassment.
Commentary
- Wing Biddlebaum was a teacher Adolph Meyers in his earlier years.
- Was accused of touching his students inappropriately
- Hid his hands and was afraid of their grotesque nature
- Winesburg, Ohio is a idiosyncratic work
- Connection between the 24 sections and "The Book of the Grotesque" is never clear
- Connection with the Wing Biddlebaum and the people of Winesburg ohio is
"Hands" today
- In Modern Society such relationships constitute child sexual abuse
- Situation very similar to many sexual harassment situations today
- Misused the trust of the kids
Ancient Greece and Biddlebaum
- In Sherwood Anderson’s time – and for several more decades – homosexual acts, or sodomy, was a punishable offense in the United States.
- Biddlebaum's history reminiscent to Ancient Greece
- Supposed to allow for mentoring and teaching and satisfying sexual urges.