"Break the Bias"

[HoliHormonalTigerlilly]

Why is the International WOMEN'S Day campaign using gender to describe sex?

https://www.internationalwomensday.com

And what kind of a tagline is that?!

'break the bias'

Oh dear, it's sad to the point of being funny. When IWD is largely all about celebrating male people's identity choices and women have been completely lost behind it, and no one's allowed to talk about what a woman is or use the word 'sex' because of it being so offensive to males, the bias is all the day is about! And we're not allowed to touch or even name the bias, never mind break it.

What exactly does the EDI person at work do apart from declare celebration of certain campaigns which may or may not be relevant / irritating?

Does anyone have one of these people who has managed to get ramps, braille, computer software for visually impaired people...?

We used to laugh at 'elf and safety people but at least they were trying to stop us killing ourselves at work (and we could tease them).

What exactly does the EDI person at work do apart from declare celebration of certain campaigns which may or may not be relevant / irritating?

Does anyone have one of these people who has managed to get ramps, braille, computer software for visually impaired people...?

Good question. My university is predictably vocal on the pronouns in email signatures, in Tweeting out slogans and giving us rainbow lanyards, yet has just opened a new building that is virtually inaccessible to anyone in a wheelchair.

And, naturally, they are celebrating IWD by spotlighting a male advocating "bringing your whole self to work".

I dont want to take my whole self to work. Trust me, noone else will either.

It's such utter virtue signalling brain rot. But then it is cheaper to paint a staircase in rainbow colours than actually install a ramp or chair lift, or even just use high contrast and textures edging so that people with a visual impairment can go up and down with less bother (rather than make it harder with all those flipping colours).

The loos in our office building in the basement are unisex. So in the basement there is a long dark corridor (open both ends), with individual cubicles (so no outer door to enter the loos). The building is open to the public - so the loos are used by drunks to sleep and druggies to snort/jab, and I assume people to have 'assignations'.

There's a nice cafe on the ground floor and you often get parents with little children in there running around - who probably wouldn't really think twice if their older child announced they were going to go to the toilet.

What exactly does the EDI person at work do apart from declare celebration of certain campaigns which may or may not be relevant / irritating?

Email one or two liners only about the ones they can't justify not mentioning, but would really rather not if they could truly bring their whole selves to work (the struggle is real).

Otherwise yes it's just emailing about days of celebration and shovelling cash into a vast and unproductive industry.

We have a new EDI person at work. Their suggestion for today is that women in our STEM department change our email profile pics to us doing a pose to show how we're "breaking bias".

Have they done likewise for the men? If not, they could begin 'breaking the bias' by doing that. Who/what is responsible for the biases?

“Doing a pose”?!

That could get them a lot more than they bargained for if someone’s close enough to retirement/unfireable enough regardless of age/career point…

'What exactly does the EDI person at work do apart from declare celebration of certain campaigns which may or may not be relevant / irritating?'

Very good question. Ours has an email signature like this (details changed)

Firstname Lastname
Age 40-49, Jewish, no disabilities, she/her

Seriously. So that's one thing that she's done

It’s a flipping grift! It really is.

I overheard a conf call with such a team (hence my not yelling at them). One used the R word - my jaw hit the bloody floor. Same folx who ‘forg’ about IWD, decided that pronouns were useful, and had Marsha promoting the many pride events last year.

Bangs head on keyboard. Repeat.

What was your response? My work know that I would tell them to do one. I’ve told them before and I told them last week too.

Fortunately… I’m the responsible adult who gets to execute campaigns so…

'We would love to feature all genders and different grades if possible'

I mean, just please give me strength. I saw a similar thing in an IG post from a writer I follow, about the importance of 'equality for all genders'. I considered messaging her to suggest that she has a stern word with herself but decided there was no point. Fucking idiots

Of course it's lovely to support everyone and make the world a better place. Let's have equality of all genders, that would involve all the penis havers stopping assaulting and killing women. Let's make this easier to understand by using sex terminology, men stop hurting women.

It feels all very upbeat and positive and I'm no misery but it feels like brands aren't reading the room. Women are still very upset/angry by the Sarah Everard (and many others) incidents recently. Saying "break the bias" does naff all to address this and fees like we should all be grateful for getting some airtime!

I particularly liked the take by Dad Behaving Badly - attached - as well as the Gender Pay Bot but no one is addressing some of the more uncomfortable issues.

I just got an email from a female counterpart who had stepped up from pronouns in LinkedIn to pronouns on her email footer.

She’s getting a call later, why is it always feminine middle aged women with kids? WTAF???

@MNadactyl

I think I've seen some such bollocks at work too. I will be boycotting all of it, as rocking up will only encourage the pronouning handmaiden taking a small break from "educating" us all on bekiiiiiind to hector us about breaking through very biases that underpin TWAW, which we must suffer every other week

Ha, are you in my team? We have a handmaiden who runs the corporate LGBTQWTF+++ group and loves to lecture us about overcoming our straight bias. (She’s straight, I’m not, and no I haven’t joined their stupid group). I groan whenever she pops up on Slack.

I called into my company's IWD effort this morning. After hearing that they wanted to increase gender diversity several times, followed exhortations to do this ridiculous pose thing, I rang off. Putting it on my LinkedIn will help me too, apparently! Load of bollocks.

 @lapasion don't think so but sounds eerily similar - do D&E&I people get some kind of secret induction? So many of the day's torments listed here echo each other!

Suggest everyone invites their company to publicise the 'gender' pay gap - or do it for them via this helpful Twitter account. And then ask what exactly they will do to break that particular bias.
twitter.com/paygapapp/status/1501125344757231616?s=21

Stuff on R4 now - Scotland fast now!

My blood pressure is going up already!

Sorry - government funded trans group?

Slight tangent but I’ve seen loads of women doing the X symbol - doesn’t that mean we’re defining women by biology? (XX chromosome). I had to laugh at the people who were doing it in support of transwomen.