Sexism in the Workplace a Females Perspective of Sexism
After over thirty five years logged working in a corporate atmosphere, the ugliness of sexism continues to run rampant. Amazingly, the absolute worst instances of sexism I'd ever witnessed occurred during my tenure at one of my favorite workplaces.
The CEO of our company was a well respected man, albeit rumors abounded about his tendency toward drinking to excess and a fondness for tall blonde women, even though he was married. While I've always taken the attitude that what one does on ones own time is strictly their own business, when it leaches into the workplace, it becomes an issue.
Monday mornings, you could find our CEO and my male peers huddled so that the CEO could regale his minions with the stories of his latest adventures. These stories usually occurred during our regular manager's meetings in the conference room. Being the lone female attending, I had a choice. I could either pretend that I was "one of the boys" or excuse myself with the pretense of an unscheduled appointment.
In our male dominated industry, I chose the former. Literally impossible to withdraw from out meetings without the appearance of being considered a whining bitch, I participated in their stories with a determination to be respected both as a manager and as one to be reckoned with. I could hold my own with the boys, but secretly, the way they spoke about women in general, I found abhorrent.
Definitely not prudish, I was astounded as to the descriptions of female genitalia that seemed to be a frequent topic. It was as if they were trading baseball cards in their stories. One trumped the other, therefore the worth was higher. In these meetings, their audacity to inquire about my own anatomy blew my mind. In order to cover my anger over their brazen questions, my performance rivaled an Academy Award winner. I would usually reply, laughingly, "You'll never know, will you?"
The meetings would generally continue along the same lines until I could sneak an important business topic into the conversation. I would then receive a comment, usually from the CEO; to say that the "little lady" had interrupted their fun and that it best we discuss any issues confronting the company for that week.
While the meetings were an irritation, I soon found that my male peer's view carried over into the day to day workings of the company. Traditionally, the clerical staff was female. As a female manager, my office was the place for non stop complaints, ranging from offensive comments to borderline potential for lawsuits. I called attention to our CEO about the complaints, but he scoffed at them, saying that clerical help was easy to find and that his attorney could handle anything that came of the complaints.
Our office continued to run smoothly for some time, bottom line profits were exceeding our expectations. In general, our employees remained with the company strictly because of the perks. They were able to work remotely for a couple of days a week and telecommuting for single mothers was a huge help. The company's success depended on the hard work of its employees. However, the ladies that were the backbone of the company became tired of the sexist atmosphere. Little by little, our attrition rate began to exceed the norm.
During one of our Monday meetings, the CEO inquired as to why so many of our staff left the company. I was incredulous. Did I speak my mind? You bet I did. I reminded him of our conversations about the complaints, but he asked that we speak of the matter privately, after the meeting. He was not pleased to be reminded of my words of warning.
Our meeting afterwards was strained to say the least. I cited incident after incident of staff complaining and reminded him of his reply. His only comment was that he would take my words under consideration.
I realized then that my effectiveness as a manager was undermined. The CEO had no intention of improving matters, much less taking my comments as a step toward employee satisfaction.
Shortly thereafter, with regrets of what might have been, I turned in my notice. Later in the year, I found out this fantastic company that held so much promise was reduced to bankruptcy. It was a shame. However, I couldn't help feeling that the company's demise was simply because of male pride.
