Harassment

Baker explores harassment in the workplace as a motif that affects many women in Truviv and is difficult to remedy. Each main female character deals with harassment in the office in some way, whether it is directly or indirectly. This discussion is prompted by the BAD Men List, which allows professional women in the Dallas area to anonymously warn their peers of men with whom they have worked who have harassed them. The need for such a list at all demonstrates how prominent harassing behavior is. Baker uses the list as a physical manifestation of the whisper network, by which the book is named.

Sloane feels compelled to sue Ames and Truviv for harassment because she feels a sense of responsibility after hearing that Katherine experienced similar harassment from Ames 12 years after she had witnessed nearly the same behavior from him. This brings up the feeling...