Treatment of Women in the Workplace

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The Office is an American comedy show that is based off a show of the same name from the United Kingdom. It began in 2005 and was adapted for American television by Ben Silverman and Greg Daniels. The show ran for nine seasons until it ended in 2013 as stated in this article by NBC. The show is about the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company and its employees. Throughout the show, the women that work at Dunder Mifflin are harassed by their male coworkers. Michael Scott, the manager of Dunder Mifflin Scranton, is responsible for a lot of comments and actions that offend his female coworkers, but it is not just Michael that does this. It is nearly all the men in the show that treat the women of the office badly.
There are many instances in the show where the women are made uncomfortable by comments or actions from their male coworkers.

In the episode "Boys and Girls" all the women that work at Dunder Mifflin Scranton have to attend a seminar talking about problems they face in the workplace. Michael is annoyed that he cannot be part of this seminar, so he decides to form his own seminar called Guys in the Workplace because he thinks that it is unfair they the women get their own seminar and the men do not. The men in the office complain about minor things that bother them, like having to use a urinal. The women discuss issues they have with their male coworkers treating them poorly, the lack of respect they get, or being harassed by them.

In "Valentine's Day" Jan Levinson, a head executive and the boss of Michael and all the other branch managers, is attacked for doing her job. One of the branch managers calls her a bitch and does not do what she tells him to do despite the fact that she is his boss. He refuses to follow Jan's instruction to prepare a presentation for her boss, which makes her look bad. Had Jan's position been filled by a man instead of her, the branch managers would follow instructions because they would have respected him more and would not be called a bitch because he is getting stuff done at work. Jan is eventually fired after having a breakdown, which shows from the point of view of The Office's writers that women cannot hold high positions, as stated in this article.

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There are quite a few scenes in the show where Pam, the receptionist, is made uncomfortable by comments from her male coworkers about her body. In "The Coup" there is a scene where Creed, the Director of Quality Assurance, comes over to Pam's desk to look at her breasts because she bought a new shirt. She says that this is why she dresses the way she does for work. Pam does not want men looking at her like that so she feels that cannot dress how she wants, as talked about in this article by Ally Boguhn. During the episode "Diwali" Kevin, one of the accountants, says that a picture of a naked Hindu goddess looks like Pam from the neck down, which means that Kevin is talking about her breasts. After Kevin says this the camera pans to Pam who looks extremely uncomfortable and turns away.

At the beginning of the episode "Women's Appreciation" Phyllis, who works in sales, is flashed and Michael makes jokes about it to the other women, making them uncomfortable. In one scene Dwight, another salesmen, gives the women a dress code and rules to follow so they will not be flashed instead of stopping the person who flashed Phyllis. By saying this, Dwight implies that it was Phyllis' fault for getting flashed because her clothing provoked the flasher. Karen, a saleswomen who just started working in Scranton, just says they want respect. The issue of dress code in the workplace is a result of a double standard for women because they are expected to dress a certain way and live up to impossible standards set by men, as said by Ally Boguhn in her article.

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There are a few instances where the women of Dunder Mifflin Scranton are not even treated like people. In "The Duel" Andy and Dwight, both salesmen, fight for Angela, an accountant, as if she is a prize to be won and not a person. Roy, who is Pam's fiancee for the first few seasons, does not treat her very well and is very possessive over her. There are two scenes in particular that portray just how violent and possessive Roy can be with Pam. The first scene shows Roy at a bar with Pam breaking a mirror because he finds out that she kissed Jim, a salesman in the office. The second scene is the aftermath and shows Roy trying to hurt Jim.

The Office is a perfect example of how women are treated in the workplace. They are harassed, treated like objects, and are blamed for being a victim to something they could not prevent. Critics claim that it is a realistic portrayal of what office life is like, as talked about by Bradford Evans in this article. If this is a realistic example of what working in an office, then that means the way women are treated by their male coworkers is realistic, too.