5 Small Things Men Do at Work That Women Absolutely Hate
There are a number of ways in which workplace inequality still exists, from the gender pay gap to the lack of gender parity in senior positions—but women can experience sexism in their careers in subtler, more insidious ways. There are all kinds of little things that men do in the workplace which can have the effect of demeaning or undermining women; things that you might even be doing without realizing.
In a thread on Reddit, women have been sharing some of their frustrations in the workplace. And while in isolation they might seem harmless enough, each instance adds up to a much bigger issue.
Stop expecting women to do the "mom" jobs around the office
Even among adults in a professional setting, there remains a skewed idea that certain tasks are better suited to women. These tend to fall outside of official job descriptions, like arranging a colleague's birthday, organizing a work outing, or keeping the office kitchen clean. In other words, domestic-adjacent chores that don't garner extra pay. One argument for why this is seen as "women's work" is that so many men grow up in households where their mothers take responsibility for all of these things. But this is the 21st century, my dudes. Cut it out and be an adult.
From AshEliseB: "The one thing that is really annoying is expecting the women to arrange all the social activities, the birthday cakes, the farewell cards, the morning teas etc. I hate that shit."
From Igh07: "Party planner is not in my job description and I will not do it. Hate that stuff."
Don't treat your female colleagues like an unofficial secretary
Similarly, plenty of dudes in offices assume that any woman working with them is some kind of administrative assistant, regardless of their actual title or qualifications. It's sexist and belittling.
From DragonMasterBrady: "I'm the Communications Lead in my current company/on my program, and it's essentially a project manager position. Almost all my colleagues at my level are dudes, and at least once a week, one of them will ask me to book a room for them, check the status of an order they placed, order lunch for a meeting they are having and other admin-related things. I'm not your fucking admin, dude, and just because I have a vagina doesn't mean that if you don't have an admin, I get to fill that roll. Fuck. OFF."
Drop the condescending nicknames
When people work closely together, overfamiliarity can become an issue, especially if it's gendered. Case in point:
From lydiarommane: "Darling, sweetie, girlie and honey aren't my name. So demeaning."
From Ankle_biter22: "My boss calls all the men at work 'sir' and calls me and the rest of the women 'kiddos'. This is probably the mildest thing this guy says."
Don't talk over or interrupt women in meetings
From bandre42: "One of my current bosses does this. It's unintentional as he's super extroverted and excitable, but there has been one meeting where multiple times I'm trying to say something super helpful and he just keeps overriding me."
From stay_true_to_you: "Huge problem at my company. Especially with some of the platform engineers and engineering leadership who have been there for 10-15 years, aren’t accustomed to working with product managers, and frankly aren’t used to working with young women. They can be aggressive and dominant in meetings. (Which is why it was ironic that my 360 feedback said I was ... too dominant in meetings. Lol.)"
Respect physical boundaries!
This should be an obvious one, but touching and commenting on women's bodies in a work context is never OK.
From SweetGlasgowSmile: "Implying I might be pregnant every time I have an upset stomach or feel a bit under the weather."
From jupiter_theplanet: "I once had a co-worker who kept touching me while talking to me. Touching my arms and shoulders. So I started taking a few steps back whenever he would touch me, and he would come forward just to keep touching my arm/ shoulder. Until the day I snapped and I was like 'CAN YOU TALK TO ME WITHOUT TOUCHING ME PLEASE?' He was offended by my tone and filed a complaint on HR... So I just wish my colleagues wouldn’t touch me when they speak to me."
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