Patronising ? Sexist, or sensible ?

[SerendipityJane]

Seems sports talk is exclusionary

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51261999

Chat about football or cricket in the workplace should be curtailed, a management body has warned.

(contd)

Not quite sure where that leaves guys who hate sport ? Presumably feeling a little bit of a failure at life. At least according to Ann Francke, head of the Chartered Management Institute

YANBU:- Patronising, cliched and wildly offensive to men and women
YABU:- At last, someone gets it !

Not a big footie fan, but LOVE rugby and motorsports and can hold my own about cricket and tennis. Would be odd if we couldn't talk about those things in work. I mean, I also talk about Doctor Who, Charlotte Tilbury make-up, random music and movies and whatnot. As long as the discussion itself isn't being exclusionary, what's the issue?

I'm a woman, I love talking about sport. I loathe talk about most reality TV shows, drinking & other people's pets. Also cookery shows & craft projects. Also cars.

When you get middle managers creating a bit of a boys club atmosphere talking about sports to the men then it is not so good.

If sport talk was banned these people would do it about something else.

The issue isnt sport. The issue is boys clubs in work. Banning or sports talk wont achieve this.

If we are going to make it inclusive there can be no talk of kids, pets, holidays, eating out. After all people may not like any of the above. Or not be able to have kids or afford a holiday or to eat out.

Most converstations would be exclusionary.

I'm a bit hmm that people seem to eager to shoot this down as a gender issue because some women like football and some men don't, when I think we all know that the stats would be pretty damn pronounced along gender lines.

It's not that. It's people suggesting that trying to achieve equality of outcome is fruitless and a culture in which the already powerful have the right to dictate conversation topics to the less powerful will not become more equal.

If a company has a toxic culture then that should be addressed. Totalitarian nonsense like this excuses by lip service to 'inclusion' has done much harm in recent years.