Reply to Is it sexual harassment to say someone looks great/beautiful?

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[quote=Anonymous]Personally, I try to keep comments to articles of clothing or jewelry and not the person.

Examples of what I will say:

"I love your shoes."
"That's a nice shade of green" (speaking about a sweater)
"What a lovely scarf."

Examples of what I won't say:
"You look great in that"
"Those shoes show off your legs."
"You look amazing today."

I don't know about the legal standard.  But I just think that it's not professional to comment on someone else's body.  I don't see an issue with commenting on things.

I'm a woman, by the way.  For men, I think it's probably best just not to make comments to women about their appearance.  Even if it is innocent, there's such a deep history of women being judged on looks as opposed to work, and it probably is better not to go there.

You also have to think about position.  If you are a male manager and you are frequently telling one subordinate how great she looks, you run the risk of creating the appearance of having a thing for her.  Even if it is innocent, you not only put your own reputation at risk, but you put her reputation at risk as well.

Managers should praise people for their work, not their looks.

The other thing to ask yourself is, would you say these things to another guy?  So if you are a male manager, would you tell a male subordinate that he looks great?  If not, don't do it to a female subordinate.  I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb.

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