You might remember the feminist phrase “The personal is political.” It emerged around 1970 to acknowledge that much of what went on in an individual woman’s life had its roots in the wider culture.
And you’ll still hear it today, highlighting societal issues that impact individual lives.
How ‘bout a corollary: The professional is personal. At least when it comes to women.
Silicon Valley sexism has been much in the news.
- Uber has a new chairman—the old one was ousted as the company became famous for sexual harassment and discrimination.
- Facebook and Tesla are fighting lawsuits over pervasive harassment, outrageous insults and lower pay for women.
- Dozens of smaller companies have signed settlements (and non-disclosure agreements) with women whose lawyers say, “It’s far worse than people know. People would be appalled at some of the behavior that goes on at the workplace.”
We probably would be. And, it turns out the high-tech bros are by no means the only men mistreating their female colleagues and competitors.
Vicious, vile, sexist rhetoric is rampant among (are you ready?) economists.
Yes, I know, there’s that nerdy stereotype: pocket protectors, mathematical models and deep analysis. Underneath all that, it seems economists are spewing sexism.
Researcher Alice Wu used an online forum for econ students and faculty members to study gender stereotyping. And she found plenty of it!
As Wu put it, “the discourse tends to become significantly less academic or professional oriented, and more about personal information and physical appearance when women are mentioned.”
And that isn’t the half of it.
The words most commonly associated with women on the message board are: hotter, lesbian, baby, sexism, tits, anal, marrying, feminazi, slut, hot, vagina, boobs, pregnant, pregnancy, cute, marry, ugly, gorgeous, horny, crush, beautiful, secretary, dump, shopping, date, nonprofit, intentions, sexy, dated and prostitute.
No, the budding economists have no similar lingo in their posts about men. When it comes to men, they’re using words like Wharton, mathematician and adviser. Although it is true that homosexual and homo also crop up mainly in posts relating to men.
Aside from making us look askance at the next economist we run into, what’s the point of all this?
I don’t have the equations that Amy Wu has to back it up, but I’m going to say these raunchy economists are not so different from people in all kinds of other professions. Particularly when they’re posting anonymous comments on a message board.
The rest of us must not dismiss porn-worthy posts and tasteless Tweets as harmless fun or boys being boys.
What my mother used to call “locker room talk” is liable to spread way past the locker room. The discourse becomes less professional and more personal when women are mentioned.
Think about those women in Silicon Valley and beyond who are being mistreated at work.
If men talk crudely among themselves about their female colleagues, how do we expect them to respond when a woman speaks up in a meeting, a conference call or even a casual conversation?
If the words they use when they talk about women are slut, feminazi and tits, how likely is it that they take a woman at work seriously when she states an opinion? Or asks a question? Or gives them direction?
Right. This kind of professional disrespect needs to stop. Now. Because the professional is personal.
What if we—all of us, male and female—just decided we’re done with that? What if we said we intend to work in atmospheres of mutual respect? What if people actually paid a professional price for being overtly sexist?
We might finally change the tone in a lot of professional settings for good. Open new relationships that benefit all of us. Create a much different atmosphere for the young men and women who will be joining us at our jobs.
So my question is: are you in? Post a comment about your experience…and your intention to create offices and board rooms and shops where women and men really can work as equals.
Catherine,
Your posts provide a great service to men as well as women. You always provide practical advice that applies to any gender so men as well as women read it. And then, by the way, women pay attention, men pay attention, to the obvious inequity or difference in how males and females are empowered. I think you draw both in with sound communication advice (that is another issue) and layer that with gender awareness and advising the doubtful how to stand up.
I don’t know anything about the numbers but I am aware of the sense of dominance some men (not all) have to women in the workplace. Maybe it is about competitive advantage but I sense it is more about cultural habits if there is a difference. For example, when I took charge of an engineered equipment firm, the sales engineers (all male) just naturally assumed that the females delivered morning coffee to desks and they typed and wrote parts orders. God forbid a female would move from a parts order administrator to managing profit of a parts and service department. God forbid a female engineer be hired.
I concluded that the engineers learned their biases at home after generations of tradition from somewhere in Europe or Asia. I recall talking with my engineers and most really did not get it that they were biased.
Surprisingly, even the females saw the male dominate hierarchy as natural. Some females seemed frustrated when I asked them to no longer deliver morning coffee, as if I had taken away some sense of value.
For me,
My grandmother was the only wage earner for a daughter and 3 grand children from a son.
My mother provided financial stability for my family as did my father.
My wife, well I used to be the major wage earner and now she is. We flip back and forth.
My daughter-in-law is just as important to my son as my wife is to me.
My business partner is female. We do not understand gender authority. She calls me generous which I am not quite – it’s that she grew in a gender dominate home.
In remorse, I admit that I catch myself in the wrong beliefs.
Some may read this and argue that males and females are inclined to different talents. I kind of believe that; I definitely believe that. I also argue that strength comes from different talents in-team. I have heard that leaders in the Cherokee nation were usually female, I am not sure. It suggests a cultural bias. I bet more Americans have Cherokee ancestors than Mohegan.
Thanks, Jim. Quick story about coffee. My niece gave my husband and me a plaque for Christmas. It says, “If I call you Darling, will you bring me coffee?” Because she knew that I call him Darling (or at least Honey). And he makes my coffee. Every day.
Great article and I continue to be surprised that we are still dealing with this so many years later. I’m not sure why I’m still surprised, but I am. My story isn’t exactly what you referenced in your article, but is applicable, nonetheless. When my husband and I moved to Chicago in 1973 we were fresh out of college. I had a job and he did not. We had trouble having gas and electricity turned on in our apartment. They didn’t want to count my income because I was a woman! Yes, that’s what they said and it’s really not that many years ago. It was disrespectful of me as a professional and as a woman. My income didn’t count, I didn’t count!
Oh, boy, is that a sore spot, Cindy. More than a decade later in the late 80s, my sister and her husband bought a condo. With money she had earned working while he was in grad school. And yet, their mortgage document referred to them as His Name (and Her Name, his wife). Was she ever irritated at being treated as an afterthought.
I s’pose it’s different now. But it’s still true that the language we use reflects how we think. It also shapes how we think.
Catherine – You know I always love what you write. Today, I almost didn’t open to read it because I’m swamped with my ever-present to do list. But I’m so glad I did. I wholeheartedly agree with what you said, and the challenge to all of us – women and men alike – is to speak up for ourselves and others and to call people out on sexist, disrespectable behavior, beliefs and statements. It’s important to do this for blatant sexism, as well as “subtle” sexism. For many of us, it’s uncomfortable to do so. We tend to just politely laugh and wait for the moment to pass so as not to rock the boat. We don’t want to be the center of ridicule or “femi-nazi” jokes. But nothing is going to change if we don’t challenge the status quo.
Thanks, Angi! Yes, it is important to speak up for ourselves and others. And yes, we often hold back for fear of being seen as a over-sensitive or difficult or (God forbid!) a bitch.We do need to challenge the negativity (especially when it’s our own).