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INCIDENT REPORT 'Humor' Belittles Pregnant Student Nancy Oriol, HMS associate dean for student affairs, has written the response to the incident below. Incident: A pregnant student was going from the second to the fourth floor with an instructor to review the physical findings on one of her patients. The instructor said, "I suppose you want to take the elevator," and the student said, "That would be nice." The male instructor replied, "I think it's a shame that we have evolved to a place where women are unfit to bear our young." Response: Humor can be a wonderful tool to bring a group together or make light of a heavy situation. Humor can also be an insidious weapon that allows us to belittle or embarrass safely under the guise of "I was only joking." Presumably, the instructor is trying to be humorous. However, the effect of this comment is to embarrass the female student and make her the butt of a joke. Indeed, the entire interchange might make her wonder if the instructor disapproves of her personally. Being pregnant in what is still a male-dominated profession is a high-risk thing to do. The pregnant student already feels out of place. Having her body change so rapidly is disorienting. Belittling these changes only undermines her self-confidence. Is this comment sexual harassment? The legal definition of harassment centers on behavior that "causes a hostile environment through repeated episodes." This one comment alone does not qualify. It does, however, reflect an insensitivity toward how the student might feel about the physical constraints of being pregnant. Most medical students are too busy and too unsure of their place within the hospital to respond to every slight or bad joke that is made at their expense. So the student in this incident is unlikely to feel safe enough to express her reaction. And the instructor might take any criticism as evidence that the student is overly sensitive. If the student does not feel she can speak to the instructor, then she should talk to the course director or someone in her society, student affairs, or the ombuds office. Any of them can help put this behavior in perspective and help her determine whether, when, and how to respond. It is a good idea to respond, however. Otherwise, the instructor will continue to model for other students that demeaning jokes are acceptable.