Do I need to unclench? Horrified by comment my manager made

[KellieMum3]

I recently moved teams at work, think big corporate company with a lot of middle managers. Team meeting (virtual) today. Manager was in the office - someone pointed out this isn’t his usual day to go in. His response was to say he checked the forecast and picked the day the most female flesh would be on display. Much laughter from some others on the call.

Am I being prudish or is that really not the time or place for such a comment?!

You dont need to unclench, thats an office sexism 101 comment... what a dick. Why say it. So many jokes you can make to break the ice about the weather and he chooses one that objectifies women...not very bright, clearly.

Yes, that's not an appropriate 'joke' for the office.

Well, I think it was just a silly joke worth an eye roll at best.
It's a pity you didn't say 'I only watch tennis for the blokes in shorts'

Ugh. David Brent. YANBU in the slightest. What an embarrassing dinosaur.

I would raise a complaint about that statement, completely unacceptable

There is no time or place for that comment. Ever. Ugh what a sleazy man.

Very David Brent, but too silly for a drama. 🤷‍♀️

Disgusting. Raise a complaint

Eww, the sleaze!

I wouldn't complain but I'd not go anywhere near him unless required and would have zero respect.

'Gosh, did you time-travel far today, Manager?'

No need to unclench at casual sexism in the workplace. Quite the reverse.

Ooft, defo inappropriate, do men really still talk like this in the work place? I’d raise it, totally wrong and he needs to understand that.

He sounds stuck in the 1970s

"The 50s called, they want you back"

Sexist prick

I'd be lodging a formal complaint about it, today

To be honest he seems like a bit of a thicko to not know that no one talks like that in 2025.

Disgusting. I would complain.

It doesnt bode well for your working environment in the new team. I would assume this is just a taster of his attitude to women and the fact the others laughed at his " joke" indicates they buy into this neanderthal outlook.

Totally inappropriate. What a sexist idiot.

As I've got older I've developed an immediate response to idiots saying things like this.
I know that, due to female socialisation as well as sometimes being gobsmacked, we only think of a witty or appropriate response after the event as wish we'd have called them out.

I now, every time, ask these nobs in a puzzled way 'why do you say that?' or 'I don't understand why you're saying xyz'.

The last time was the other day in Asda. I had a trolley with a dodgy wheel with sellotape stuck to it. As I was trying to sort it a ruddy faced bloke about 60 laughed and said 'women drivers'.
I looked wide eyed at him and asked 'what do you mean?' and he just blustered then shuffled off. Saw him near the reduced bit later and he was getting bollocked by his wife for something!

It is inappropriate but I am guessing you don't know him very well yet. I would wait and see if it is a regular pattern of behaviour. There could be some ongoing joke or a reference to someone else being a creep or just something that you're unaware of.

Obviously it's not the cleverest thing to do on his part but I would file it away in my head and wait and see for now.

Everyday sexism.

Given what’s happened this year at my work, he would be suspended and fired as an outcome. They are red hot on anything just now.

I’d be silently very angry at having a manager with those thoughts about women. Whether I’d make a complaint depends on how secure I felt. But this is the danger of privilege and particularly male privilege, they get away with it because they can. Fucking depressing.

you need to have a word with him and say it was unprofessional and this time you aren't taking it further but next time it will be reported to HR as the vile sexism it is.

And then when it happens, you need to step up, in the meeting and say just that.

Sexist dinosaur! Completely inappropriate for, well, anything really, but particularly for a professional environment.

Did you not get training on the new sexual harassment protections that came in last year?? Your work should have a sexual harassment policy in place.

Ours specifically says "Examples of sexual harassment include, but are not limited to:

• sexual comments or jokes, which may be referred to as "banter""

Not OK.

It's also depressing all those that think a joke is the way to respond or a quip about being someone from the past. If you don't feel you can complain for whatever reason, you don't need to minimise it by say it's a throw back to the 70s or I only came for the men in shorts etc. It shouldn't be dignified with any response. Just stonewall silence. But if he is comfortable to say that with a new female member of his team and others laughed, I'm going to guess that the culture is toxic.