NEWS - Education & Colleges

SBJ Special Report

Dec 12, 2011 - Armstrong Atlantic State University has announced that Dr. Regina Rahimi, assistant professor in the Department of Adolescent and Adult Learning, has published a new book ‘Pervasive Vulnerabilities: Sexual Harassment in School,’ a groundbreaking new book about sexual harassment in middle schools and high schools.

Pervasive Vulnerabilities explores the beliefs, attitudes and behaviors of adolescent girls, boys and teachers, and exposes the continuing persistence of sexual harassment in the United States. The book addresses the sexual double standard that continues to hold girls and women accountable for male sexual aggression, and demonstrates that this double standard still dismisses males who harass young women with a cavalier “boys will be boys attitude,” while castigating young women for sexual expression.

“This book is the culmination of years of research we’ve done for the past 10 years,” said Dr. Rahimi, who co-authored the book with Georgia Southern University professor Dr. Delores D. Liston. “There is a great deal more to be done in terms of sexual harassment and gendered harassment in schools. This is a major problem that exists on middle school and high school campuses throughout the country.”

Released by Pete Lang Publishing, Pervasive Vulnerabilities discusses issues of sexual harassment in four major areas: the impact on women’s lives, sometimes long after high school; the perceptions of teachers who interact with adolescents; the experiences of girls in middle and high school; and the behaviors and attitudes of young men in middle and high school.

“Heterosexism and homophobia serve to create hostile environments for young women and young men who challenge notions of hegemonic masculinity,” she said. “There is still a lot of work to be done to create safer climates for young women and GLBTQ youth.” 

Dr. Rahimi earned an Ed.D. in Curriculum Studies, an M. Ed. in Middle Grades Education and an Ed. S. in Middle Grades Education from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. She has a B.S. Ed. in Middle Grades Education from Armstrong Atlantic State University.

A former middle school teacher, her research interests include issues of gender, race, sexuality and class in education, as well as adolescent literacy.

Pervasive Vulnerabilities will be released on December 15, and will be available locally at Barnes & Noble at Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah. The book can also be pre-ordered online at Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.