Sexism at Work

[Wandering]

Has anyone else run into rampant sexism at work? I thought stuff like this was a thing of the past, but apparently it's not. I've been out of college for five years and have worked for 14 years and I have never seen stuff like this till now. Customers treat me like crap and of course I get paid a lot less than my male counterparts. I get so tired of people asking to talk to "one of the guys" that I don't even want to try any more. Men and sometimes women talk over my shoulder to one of my male co-workers, despite the fact that the man behind me is ignoring them. Then there's the sexual harrassment bull shit. They don't want to talk to me, but they'll look down my shirt or stare at my ass any chance they get. I know that not all men are like this, but I'm beginning to wander if it has to do with my geographic location. The Midwest seems to be a hot bet for conservatism. Any body else had experiences like mine?

[Anonymous]

I have the same problem. The other guy in my depertment has less experience and less education and he makes $10K more a year.

[Mermaid]

Since I entered the working world at fifteen, I've run head-first into almost every type of sexism on the job. The worst was while I was working in promotions at a local radio station, and ended up fired because the female higher-ups assumed (wrongly) that I was sleeping with the male VIPs, just because I was very ambitious and excelled quickly. Had I not been so young (20) and easily manipulated, I would have sued. /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_mad.gif

Anyway, it's pathetically common -- at every job I've ever worked, there has been some degree of sexism, often in the form of sexual harrassment or the proverbial glass-ceiling. Couple that with the fact that as a twentysomething, we're already given less respect, and being a woman in her 20s can really suck! /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_evil.gif

_________________
-Mermaid-
"Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against your passion and your appetite." (Kahlil Gibran)

"She knows she's been here too few years to feel this old." (Rob Thomas)

[Wandering]

Thank you both, I'm glad to know that I'm not alone. /phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[wolverine]

I am a female engineer. I learned a long time ago to have a sense of humor regarding how I am treated, if differently, from my male counterparts. I know when to draw the line when I'm in an uncomfortable situation and to talk to my boss about it, but most importantly I have learned to differentiate between when someone makes a situation "personal" and they have it "out for me" or not.

[Anonymous]

I hope this doesn't sound awful- but I spent the first 2 years of my career relating to others my own age at work by "going home" with them. I didn't know what was appropriate, and was unbelievable nieve (sp?). I kept finding myself in these awful situations, especially on the road, where I didn't know what I was getting into. Now I have this awful reputation at work that I fight to destroy every day.

My advice: until you know your coworkers and profession better, don't even think of getting personal with people of the opposite sex. It's just too dangerous.

[Wandering]

FYI we are talking about prejudice based on gender not having sex with coworkers.

[Anonymous]

It does make sense that because of one's gender co-workers would assume sexual promiscuity. It may also be easier for men at work to be open about their relationships with co-workers to other men as a type of "conquest". Unfortunately, when women have relationships at work (and in life) they are almost immediately thought of as easy. It is a definite discrimination issue.

[Anonymous]

I also have experience sexual harassment. What's funny is that it isn't the grossly obvious crap you see in the training videos. No one grabs my ass and I've never had a boss promise me a promotion if I sleep with him.

It's way more subtle than that and when you verbalize it you sound insane.

For example, I work in a job in which you are expected to work holidays. I have worked the past 3 Christmas holidays when my male counterparts have not. There's a distinct presence of an "old boys club" in this world and it's hard to deal with.

[Anonymous]

I also have experience sexual harassment. What's funny is that it isn't the grossly obvious crap you see in the training videos. No one grabs my ass and I've never had a boss promise me a promotion if I sleep with him.

It's way more subtle than that and when you verbalize it you sound insane.

For example, I work in a job in which you are expected to work holidays. I have worked the past 3 Christmas holidays when my male counterparts have not. There's a distinct presence of an "old boys club" in this world and it's hard to deal with.