So you've have accepted that there was bullying in your workplace (albeit mild, but none is acceptable as you indicate). You have also indicated that there were unwelcome comments, joke etc, that you found 'objectionable' but that it was left to you as the person on the end of the objectionable comments to have to deal with the issue. That doesn't sound like a healthy workplace at all - rather the organisational culture should be such that everyone understands the boundaries of what is acceptable and not, and that it is managers and leaders who should ensure the culture is maintained.
No, what I found objectionable was when the team leader dropped his pants in the office and mooned to my video camera, which someone else on the team was using to film him, while I was out of the office, and then left it back on my desk. So I didn't discover the mooning until I went home and played the tape. They were all giggling and laughing like schoolboys - probably the fact that it was after lunch and they had been drinking and it was summer was one of the reasons they were stupid enough to do something like that in the office and film it and give me the evidence. I thought that was a joke too far.
Some of the jokes and comments were stupid but I didn't feel harassed. Some were actually quite clever and pretty funny.
I found the environment pretty healthy - I learned a lot and had a laugh at work most of the time and even enjoyed the learning experience of busy and stressful days.
Now I am assuming that you weren't the line manager of the people making the 'objectionable' comments (correct me if I am wrong). But if that is the case then it should have been their line manager quietly taking them to one side to indicate that those kinds of comment or joke aren't really acceptable. If should never be left to you as that puts you in a very awkward position and in many cases, particularly for young, junior (and female) employees they wont feel able to 'deal with it' particularly if the comment come from a more senior person as is the case more often than not.
Oh please - that would have been unhealthy for me though I accept your option might have been healthy for you. I felt empowered by dealing with it myself - in fact it was one of the highlights of that job and it still gives me a feel-good factor when I think about it - especaially Dale laughing and calling me a bastard. I was young and junior - it was my first job after university.
But then I tend to enjoy more high-risk situations that challenge me - and find those better for my mental health and happiness. The increasingly low-risk culture that seems to be taking over is becoming suffocating and depressing.
