to consider this comment as too sexist at a school parents night?

[beanymagoo]

Hi

interested in your view, following a visit to my dd's primary school. Headteacher greeted me & my dh as we walked into the school. Our DD's teacher tends to overrun her meetings and we were on a tight schedule. I asked if her teacher was running to schedule, the headteacher responded that she was a little behind and added that "she loves to chat, it's always the women that keep her chatting." I was slightly taken aback....is this a reasonable comment from him as a headteacher or am I being overly sensitive?

Probably true.

Was it untrue? Is it sexist if it was true?

Of course YANBU! Whether it happened to be “true” or not isn’t the point (I used to be a teacher and this certainly wasn’t my experience) - it’s a sexist and outdated comment and completely inappropriate in a professional context.

How did you respond OP?

He was probably speaking from experience and it was true. I know I used to do all the talking at parents evenings. D H just nodded. Why would this be a problem for you?

Of course it’s relevant if it’s true!
If I said ‘this particular woman loves shopping’ it’s just a statement about her, it’s not sexism, if I said ‘all women love shopping’ it’s sexism.

It's not something I'd have said in a parents' evening context, but anecdotally I find that most parents want a brief update and to run to time, and of those who want a lengthy chat, it's more likely to be mothers than fathers.

It took me a couple of years to feel more confident closing off the chatters by reminding them that appointments X long, so if they have any further areas to discuss, please contact the office and we'll arrange a time. Most never did, so it was just chatting.

People are going to end up with a list of what they are allowed to say and don't deviate from it. People are so easily offended these days.

If women keep her chatting, why isn't he allowed to say something factual? 🤯🤯

This is absolutely my experience of parents evenings 🤷‍♀️ The dads usually just sit there and nod/look bored, and if there's going to be a 'chatter' it's the mum, no exceptions 😩 I've NEVER (in almost 30 years!) been delayed by a dad wanting to chat!

I'll admit when we go to parents evening my husband doesn't say that much either!

Head teacher probably spoke to tens if not hundreds of parents that night. Don't over analyse a throwaway comment.