Harassment isn't always about sexual exploitation, its about exclusion - one group trying to make the work atmosphere more difficult for another because they'd really rather not have them around. Sometimes sexuality is the focus but often its things that are used to ostracize women by making them look less serious, less capable, less committed, different and out of place on the job. Women are trivialized or made to do trivial tasks that men shun. The purpose is to preserve the masculine image of the job and the men who do it. The goal is to have the woman targeted so uncomfortable that she quits, thus making it easier to replace her with a man and creating the sense that women just can't make it in the male world of work. If they are succedssful then they do not have to change their way of doing things that preserves their power and privileges. It perpetuates a work environment in which the male way of doing things, male goals and values remain the standard and accommodation to outsiders (females or minorities) is unnecessary.

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