Comments on: Everyday Sexism – Part 1 in an Occasional Series

By: SL Huang (aka MathPencil)

SL Huang (aka MathPencil) — Thu, 02 Oct 2014 13:44:46 +0000

Yeah, I think it is definitely field-specific! A friend of mine in a certain sub-specialty of engineering had a FAR worse experience than I’ve observed in my fields, for instance. 🙁

I think it’s the sort of thing that would reinforce itself — if the culture is like that, it will encourage it from people who wouldn’t ordinarily make sexist jokes, etc. because they’re trying to fit in to the group vibe, and it will also serve to chase women away from the profession, thus exacerbating the problem.

By: Bats

Bats — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 15:47:33 +0000

I’m sure it’s industry-specific to a certain extent. The places I find myself working are very male environments, and not only is my skill a peripheral one to the main event, it also often holds things up, and it involves people doing things my way, which may be slower, and following instructions from me which they think are ridiculous. If I were in one of the more ‘traditional’ job roles in the industry, I suspect my experience would be different.

By: Hedgepig

Hedgepig — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 11:08:38 +0000

Oddly enough, I found I experienced less of this bullshit whilst in my male-dominated field. There was maybe one woman per ten men (very conservative estimate – I think it was actually closer to one in twenty+), but very few incidents like this. In fact, I clearly remember co-workers speaking out against the few sexist comments and incidents that did occur.

It was only when I swapped jobs to a new field that these sorts of things started happening on a regular basis. I don’t know if it was to do with the industry or another factor.

By: SL Huang (aka MathPencil)

SL Huang (aka MathPencil) — Wed, 01 Oct 2014 06:05:29 +0000

I work in a male-dominated field too, and…yeah. This shit happens.

It’s funny, people who aren’t affected by it often just don’t see it. But once you start seeing it, you can’t stop…

By: Bats

Bats — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:32:33 +0000

You’ll love the rest of this series! 😉

By: Bats

Bats — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 18:31:50 +0000

Yes, yes we do. It’s becoming thankfully more rare than it was when I was 25, which was [ahem, mumble] years ago. One of the advantages of getting older is the ability to respond to this kind of thing without getting fired!

By: Diana Staresinic-Deane

Diana Staresinic-Deane — Tue, 30 Sep 2014 03:40:19 +0000

Wow. Just…wow.

By: InMyBook

InMyBook — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 17:10:53 +0000

As a 60-year-old American female, I can tell you that although sexism of this type has diminished from the time I was your age, it is still out there and is both enraging and demoralizing. Glad you call people on it now. We all need to fight it.