"Sexual harassment on the job is not a problem for virtuous women".

                                            -- Phyllis Schlafly

[UPDATE: courtesy of Karen, here is the full quote with attribution:

"Sexual harassment on the job is not a problem for virtuous women, except in the rarest of cases. Men hardly ever ask sexual favors of women from whom the certain answer is no. Virtuous women are seldom accosted."

                                                        --Phyllis Schlafly testifying before a Senate committee reviewing new federal guidelines.

                                                           as quoted in Time Magazine in May of 1981

Thanks Karen, for hunting this down]

You gotta hand it to Phyllis Sclafly.  She got a big pair of "Thatchers" on her when it comes to telling women what's wrong with them as ladies. 

You know, I'm not sure what her idea of a "virtuous woman" is, but I have a hard time believeing that any behavior that falls into the catagory of "lady-like" can cause a man to NOT harass a woman, if he is of a mind to.

If you are being sexually harassed at work or at school, don't listen to Phyllis Schlafly and her ilk who would have you be demure and suffer in silence and worry that people will question your "virtue" if you tell them.

Be like those unpleasant feminists.  Complain to those who can do something about it.  Demand action.  Kick up a fuss.  Be vocal and demand to be treated well.  If they use words, fight with words.  If they are using the system to harrass you, now (thanks to feminists) the system include tools for fighting back.  Use them.  If it's physical, MAKE them stop, and if they attack you, take them apart.

Phyllis Schlafly may have to worry about what men will think of her, and may gauge her "virtue" by the reactions of men...but who wants the kind of men that would want women like Phyllis Schlafly anyway?

Real Women want Real Men who don't have to push women around to in order to get their macho on.  Who cares about the rest?

Now, good old "Mal" knows what sort of advice to give a lady in distress:

"Now, don't you go standin' for that. Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill 'em right back!"

I was recently reminded of a story from a friend of mine where a guy in school would not shut up about her breasts.  He talked about them all the time, whispered sexual suggestions to her, and was generally a disgusting pig.  So she pointed out that her breasts were as hidden as she could make them, but he was still obsessed with their size...so she felt free to wonder about the size of his penis.  She demanded in front of a classroom full of people that he drop his pants and show everyone his huge penis that he was always bragging to her about.  If he was so proud of it, this was his chance to show it off.

He backed off and never bothered her again.  THAT'S the way to handel a harrasser.  My guess is, THAT one isn't in Ms. Schlafly's toolkit.

There was one guy who, after name-calling and sexual harassment eventually took it to the physical level.  I choked him (leaving bruises) and kneed him in the groin.  Sure, I got a black eye, but hey, he never bothered me again.

Of course, that was in the halcyon days before anti-harrassment laws were common.  I mean, I know a lawsuit gets the job done of making them stop...but women don't get that closure that one gets from finding out just how soft-and-squishy the soft-and-squishy's can be.

Really, if we want to truly get down to brass tacks here, I think we should point out to Ms. Schlafly that the harassment laws act in the best interests of harassers, effectivly giving their victims recourse to tactics that are less "unladylike", before things escalate to the point of physical confrontation.

But if the intellectual heirs of Ms. Schlafly insists that those poor harassers are being abused under the current system, we can always go back to the old one...but  those who don't want a clean fight better be ready for us to fight dirty again.