What are the scenarios where it is and isn't harassment?
I have not knowledge or experience in this area, so to me it looks you'd either have to use very vulgar language, do it repeatedly after being told it is unwanted or basically have negative intention. Else it's just an odd thing to do at workplace.
Note, I am asking this as genuinely curious foreigner from very un-PC culture. Not trying to be annoying or anything like that.
Appreciate your politeness in a such controversial topic.
Apparently, when the both persons are already in a romantic relationship, or are spouses (which can happen in a family business) it's not harassment. Thus, whether such offer is harassment or not is based on a subjective judgement of each party, rather than some hard-coded rule. In the case described by the author it was clearly harassment because one party perceived it so.
Even when it's not harassment and wanted by both parties, it still can be undesirable from a professional ethics perspective as it can affect morale of other employees. So it leaves very few cases when it's acceptable, but they do exist.
For the same reason that police can't ethically solicit sex from someone they've pulled over for a traffic violation: There's a power imbalance that unfairly biases the propositioner over the victim.
Even if the boss asks politely, the subordinate knows that their job -- and likely their financial stability -- ultimately depends on making the boss happy...
Is there anyone that thought a manager asking their subordinate for sex isn't harassment?