AIBU to wonder if women feel excluded from workplace sport chat?

[Littletoaster]

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

Basically the women in this article thinks football and cricket chat in the workplace should be moderated as it excludes women. As a woman, I like cricket and join in with cricket chat. I don't like football but I don't feel excluded if others are discussing it. I don't think we need to start moderating sports chat. What do you all think?

The most excluded I've ever felt in a workplace was when I shared an office with two women who talked about nothing but their kids. They literally could not converse unless it involved that topic.

It's horribly sexist to assume it's going to lead to laddist stuff though. If it did, in my place I'd put a stop to it but that's because I'm gobby pretty senior and can get away with it.

So what the actual problem is, it seems to me, is people excluding other people from workplace chat which is a form of bullying and would be up to the managers to nip in the bud. That's just about making sure the office environment is welcoming and not discriminatory.

In fact I'd guess that sport would be one thing that someone in an office could use as an icebreaker or chit-chat over the water cooler especially if you know one of your workmates supports an opposing team and played yours at the weekend and unexpectedly stuffed them leading to the whole country celebrating because everyone hates the other team sort of thing.

Any chat you find dull or know nothing about excludes a person surely. I have excluded myself from any chats about sport, reality tv and makeup .

This.

I'm a man. Watching sport is as boring as hell. Talking about it is that squared. What is the point?

I'm a dual-code rugby coach and have played both to county level. I know more about rugby than most men

I think the article is nonsense, however I do think in a work place it isn't productive to have topics that monopolise conversations thus excluding people whether that is sports, clothes, reality tv etc.

There's a lot of football chat in my office. I don't give a shit about football so don't listen or join in. But people can talk about what they like! It's not their fault I am not interested.

The women interested in sport at my workplace have equal respect in such chit chat.

A ridiculous and sexist suggestion. Like pp, I know more about a broader range of sports than most men! But I really think talk about music or tv should be banned because it's excluding me

Of course it's ridiculous

Sadly, as recruiting seems more and more about ticking boxes and try to be as "neutral" as possible, it's getting harder to recruit people who will fit in the team better than others.

You can never know, and it's work, but it's easier to find the right fit when you can ask more personal questions.

Expecting people to stick to some "broad" subjects is beyond ridiculous.

Sticking to politics and religion should sort out any issues!😂

It’s ridiculous and sexist to pick on sport as a topic that cannot be talked for fear of leaving out 50% of the population. I work with almost all men - only 1 other female on my team of 30. Some of the guys talk about sport quite a lot but I am happy to not take part in those conversations as I don’t follow football or rugby or whatever - I just don’t have much interest in it. It is very similar to the way that my colleague Steve doesn’t take part in the conversations about Game Of Thrones as he doesn’t watch it.

Sticking to politics and religion should sort out any issues!😂

😂😂

It wasn't the football and cricket chat that used to bore me shitless, it was the bloody golf.

All the alpha-male posturing and guffawing about the 19th hole - Christ, I wanted to stuff my ears with paperclips just so I didn't have to listen.

Made my day once though - all the big knobs were going on a company jolly to the races and my boss jokingly asked me for a tip for the big race. So I consulted the newspaper and picked one (I knew it had a good chance, top jockey, trainer had a lot of success at that racecourse, weights not too bad and I thought the chief opposition wasn't as good as they made out). I told him which horse to bet on, and gave him £1 to put a bet on for me as well.

16-1 it was, and it came in first by quite a long way. He'd forgotten to put the bets on, partly because I'm only a female he didn't take me seriously, partly because he was in the bar most of the time.

Where's my winnings, I asked him - he laughed it off, so I took £17 out of the petty cash tin and put an IOU in there with his name on it

I had a lovely girl join my Year Five teaching group. She came from a very middle class family and had somehow ended up at our school, in a deprived, working class area. Mum came to see me at the end of the first week with a piece of paper. Written on it were a list of topics. Ponies, Enid Blyton, nature walks etc. Mum explained that the girl couldn’t join in the chat at lunchtime as all the girls talked about was boys and pop music, so she had written me a list to pass on to the other children. I politely declined and the girl moved schools not long after.

The men sitting next to me did have some football chat today. I told them to get on to the gossip so I could hear all about their weekend conquests, because until that point, I had thought them far more boring than that. They have done nothing bragworthy, so we talked about Peterborough being nicknamed Posh instead. They have failed to exclude me.

I'm male. I don't like football. Couldn't care less who beats who. Watch England when it's the world Cup but that's about it.

I don't feel excluded but it can be frustrating as it seems endless every day. I come up with other things to talk about though.

I got into football through my husband.

I love going to our local pub to watch games and I love going to celebrations when cups and leagues are won. I love the atmosphere .

I can hold my own when it comes to talking about football with the guys, and it's even brought me closer to my family (even though they are opposite team to what I support).

Limiting it is ridiculous . Several guys I talk to at work don't watch it and I will still talk to them just about other subjects. It's 90% male/ 10% female split at my work .