Earlier this week at work a senior manager was telling an anecdote which included phrases including "he squealed like a girl" and "he was a right woman about it" etc etc. I called him out on it in a lighthearted way - we get on well - but he was utterly bemused by my opinion which was basically that he was using ingrained sexist language. He was adamant it was only a turn of phrase, which try as I might to get my point across that that was the exact point it wasn't hitting home. Now, he's started overly checking what he says "can you do this guys - that's only a phrase I mean you too" for example.
He has total form for ingrained sexism, eg spoken to me in the past about suitable careers for his daughter versus his son, long conversations about grid girls etc etc etc that belies his true feelings. But, and this is a big but, he has never ever treated me differently to male colleagues. So AIBU to object to his use of language? Or am I overreacting?
For context, largely male dominated workplace only 2 women versus maybe 40 men. I have objected before about language use in the workplace, and I don't mean swearing (I'm up there with the rest of them) I mean phrases that I'm uncomfortable with, most notably the use of "rape" meaning "to take advantage of" in a financial sense. I have a reputation as a raging feminist when all I'm trying to do is counter the everyday sexism and challenge long ingrained behaviours. I'm uncomfortable with this label in the sense that the connotations to it are negative but I don't believe I'm wrong and I think it's important to challenge.