Years ago, I used to compliment female co-workers on their dress and appearance. After my first HR training session on sexual harassment for managers, I stopped.
It made workplaces a lot less enjoyable when people were cowed and afraid to say anything at all.
The early training videos and role playing were almost always clear-cut examples of indecent comments and no person in his or her right mind would say those things. The newest training videos (about two years ago) were getting so extreme that innocuous comments were deemed “offensive.” And (as you know), not just possibly by the person you were talking to, but anybody within earshot or walking by. I just learned to shut my mouth, hunker down and do my work.
I am SO GLAD to be retired now.
This story is from the mid 90’s when the Clinton regime was promoting feminism. I worked for the USAF and a couple of airmen were talking about bitches. A female airman over heard this and was immediately offended and complained. The facts were that both airmen using the bitch word had dogs, lots of them and bred them and called the female dogs bitches, which at that time was the proper name for them. The complaint never went anyplace.
Today such airmen would be drummed out of the service.