Subtle Sexism

[Lachrymose]

"You're a girl? Get me your REAL boss, girly!"
"Boobs can't operate electronics."
"I refuse to speak to you. Get me a man."
"Do you have a kitchen in the back room? Cause that's the only reason I can think of for you working here!".

Fucking hell. I think I've died a little on the inside.

[indigo]

I work at a camping store and I love when they ask for the manager because "girls don't know nothing about campin" - it just so happens that one of our supervisors as well as our store manager are female. The looks on their faces are priceless. Doubly so when they go to find a man, who then redirects them to me.

[ozcatbug]

I am the only female in my department, where we fix traded in games consoles. I have never had a problem with the guys I work with since they all know I can do my job, don't try to get out of the dirty work ("I'm a girl and I can't do that") and also the fact that I am one of the most qualified people that work there.

However I have encountered problems when I tell people what I do for a living. "But that's a man's job, you can't do that."

Really? I've thought long and hard about this and the only time a penis is an essential piece of equipment in our warehouse is when you are standing in front of the urinals in the men's loos. I'm really lucky that my managers realise that I can do the job just as well, if not better, than the guys, and that my lack of a penis is not a detriment to my work.

[fireheart17]

I've gotten this on a couple of occasions at my first job (manager in a supermarket).

Somehow, people would bypass 4-5 different checkouts and speak to me, thinking I was the manager. Our manager at the time was male.

In my current job, the sexism isn't nearly as bad.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Used to work at a veterinary clinic; granted, I am slender for a woman and always have been. The way I work with dogs is pretty much making them cow-tow to my presence by being firm, clear, and calm in any and all directions I give them.

That means that yes, this Great Dane/Newfoundland mix will listen to me and not his owner more often than not, despite the dog being twice my weight.

Can't imagine the amount of times guys would ask me if I "take care of the little dogs" or "where's the man to handle my big tough guy?"

My favorite was at one point I had an American Bull Terrier/Great Pyrenees mix (don't ask, I have no idea how, but he was a beautiful and POWERFUL dog) sitting next to me as I got some more doggie doo bags out of the closet. Owner happens to come in at that point and lay into not only my boss, but me about "letting the little skirt try to handle his dog". In no way was he actually worried about my safety, he was just posturing. (I also couldn't believe he called me a skirt, because who the hell uses that term anymore?)

His dog growled at him. A short, curt "you're behaving poorly" growl (yes dogs will attempt to correct other dogs/people when they see bad behavior.) Guy ignored his own dog, tried to snatch the leash out of my hand and push me away, only to get a really nasty snarl from the dog.

He didn't bite him, didn't do anything other than snarl a warning.

Yup, even dogs know what behavior is and is not acceptable, too bad not all people do.

[fireheart17]

)

His dog growled at him. A short, curt "you're behaving poorly" growl (yes dogs will attempt to correct other dogs/people when they see bad behavior.) Guy ignored his own dog, tried to snatch the leash out of my hand and push me away, only to get a really nasty snarl from the dog.

He didn't bite him, didn't do anything other than snarl a warning.

Yup, even dogs know what behavior is and is not acceptable, too bad not all people do.

what happened after the dog snarled at him?

I'm very thankful that the level of gender is kept to a minimum at my current job. Hell, the manager of one of the sites I work at is male (and awesome )

[AmbrosiaWriter]

what happened after the dog snarled at him?

Let's see... he tried to lay into my boss again about (please excuse the term, it was his not mine) "Pussifying his dog." Which baffled me, because how does a dog snarling mean it's a wimp?

At that point the dog refused to be handled by the guy, entirely. Even when I got him to calm down and hand the leash over to the owner, as soon as I stepped away the dog would yank the owner over trotting back to me.

So we called his wife. Wife arrives. Dog trots over to wife all happy and pleasant (big bushy tail wagging and creating a wind tunnel for everything behind it) and wife scrunches up his face going "Who's my big knight? Who's my big, scruffy gentleman?" Dog was all happy. "And who's going to be in the dog house for treating Monte Cristo's (yes that was the dog's name) favorite handler like trash?"

Oh man the guy deflated sooo damn fast.

[Andara Bledin]

Pets can be such a useful barometer for measuring the decency of our fellow humans.

[blas87]

There's two female maintenance folk at my work. It's kind of funny, because anyone who doesn't know them as well as I and my coworkers do (over the years) usually asks how they handle working with men and if there's any sexism problems.

Oh, no way. Those girls will snap and snap so hard with any attempt at bringing them down, their dicks would be like tails tucked between their legs.

For a little while while my friend was on maternity leave and the evil little European had moved away and quit, I was the only younger girl on the shift amongst all male (and one older female) operators. That was not fun, but not in the matter of male vs female, it was more elitist asshole shit than it was anything else.

[fireheart17]

So we called his wife. Wife arrives. Dog trots over to wife all happy and pleasant (big bushy tail wagging and creating a wind tunnel for everything behind it) and wife scrunches up his face going "Who's my big knight? Who's my big, scruffy gentleman?" Dog was all happy. "And who's going to be in the dog house for treating Monte Cristo's (yes that was the dog's name) favorite handler like trash?"

Oh man the guy deflated sooo damn fast.

oh my god, that's classic.

Although kind of name is Monte Cristo? That's a biscuit down here....O_o (yes, I'm aware of the Count of Monte Cristo...)

[Aethian]

I had a ladies dog. Female handlers, other ladies, vet...he liked them all. If a unknown guy came near me he would be sitting all pretty with a smile and a growl. Hell he gave my ex a good once over till my ex got kisses from me and he handed out rawhide bones.

[Ginger Tea]

Although kind of name is Monte Cristo? That's a biscuit down here....O_o (yes, I'm aware of the Count of Monte Cristo...)

Monty is a good name (I know it's a different spelling but the sound is the same) it's better than the stereotypical rich elderly lady from the bygone ages with names like trixywoo, or joke names like Chairman, Frank Skinner or David Badiel had a cat called Chairman Meow, but as they thought it was stupid to say out loud in full they stuck to chairman. Hey if you think the name is stupid to begin with, just don't name your pet (or child) something stupid.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

oh my god, that's classic.

Although kind of name is Monte Cristo? That's a biscuit down here....O_o (yes, I'm aware of the Count of Monte Cristo...)

It was for the Count of Monte Cristo. He did have a very sharp vindictive streak. As far as I can recall, the wife informed me (much later) that Monte Cristo wouldn't let the husband on the bed. This apparently went on for some months. Then the husband brought Monte Cristo back (I think for a grooming) and was very polite to me. I got a call the next day at work.

It was the wife.

Monte Cristo had let the husband on the bed.

[Ginger Tea]

Sad to say he was only being polite because his wife and more importantly dog forced him to ...

[Nekojin]

Sad to say he was only being polite because his wife and more importantly dog forced him to ...

Yes, but it seems that he can be trained...