Need to rant arrghhhhh

[TheRaccoon]

I’ve been self-employed for around a year now and, whilst I absolutely love it most of the time, I’m beginning to get frustrated with the way some men interact in a professional environment.

I have a lot of Zoom meetings, as I’m sure many of us do these days, and I’ve lost count of the inappropriate comments that are passed my way.

A couple of examples; when attending a networking meeting as a guest, one of the men was telling me about their previous monthly meet ups and how I could go off with the women to do some “shopping or whatever you women do” while the men talk business.

In another meeting recently a guy answered the phone to a colleague and said “I have to go, I’m sitting in front of a beautiful woman right now” then winked at me? I pretended I hadn’t seen and he then asked if I’d heard his compliment and if I was flattered...

I cannot believe some men still think it’s appropriate to speak to/about women this way in a professional environment. I’m so sick of it.

As these meetings are usually to do with me working with them on a project I find it awkward to put them straight as I’m not in a position to jeopardise potential work, but I just want to scream at them!

Anyone else have any inappropriate men at work stories?

I can't think of specific stories but yes, patronising, sexist twits abound where I work. Just the way they'll walk into a room full of women and address us all as 'ladies' or, even worse, 'girls', makes me want to puke. And women find it hard to get promoted where I am too. Probably not the sort of thing you wanted but touched a nerve with me!

@heatherpot it was exactly the same where I used to work. When the one man on my team left, we went from being called a team to being called ‘girls’ and it used to drive me absolutely insane!

It just baffles me that people still think that not only is it ok, that we should ENJOY being spoken to like we’re just pretty furniture in their business world. Fuming!

How old are these men!? The only person who's ever spoken to me like that (in a professional capacity, happens plenty IRL) was our company's official Missing Stair. He was old enough to be my dad.

What a pair of odd men. I would tend to ask them what they mean by that or simply stare at them without responding until they realised the error of their ways. They won't try it again.

There's an old creepy guy that I work with. I was talking to someone about not being able to drive and then I walked up, he walks behind me and says "you can drive me anytime" I played stupid and said but I don't drive and he repeated what he'd first said in my ear and then walked off.

I was so gobsmacked that I went silent and then I was angry when I got home because I allowed him to speak to me like that!

I reckon it's a power thing. They know you won't say anything because you're meeting them to set up a job and you need to play nice if you want the work. So they get off on saying absurd things.

@Ohalrightthen probably both in their 50s I’d say, so not particularly young but certainly not old enough to be excused.

@BobbinThreadbare123 I think you’re spot on with that. I just find it such odd behaviour and I get so pissed off that I don’t feel comfortable to say anything. In my old job I used to call people out all the time, but my salary didn’t depend on it then!