Women Who Are Men's Equals Don't Need To Go Tiny Little Authoritarian On Them
People in offices -- like the City Attorney's office where I volunteer as a mediator, doing free dispute resolution for LA residents -- sometimes talk about things I'm interested in. Sometimes they don't.
If I'm interested, I might join in the convo. If not, I don't feel all threatened and discriminated against! I mean, what a weenie way to be!
But the latest in lady panty waddings is over in the UK, where a woman who heads a management institute is telling the "lads" to cut down on the sports chat. From the BBC:
Chat about football or cricket in the workplace should be curtailed, a management body has warned.Chartered Management Institute head Ann Francke said sports banter can exclude women and lead to laddish behaviour such as chat about sexual conquests.
"A lot of women, in particular, feel left out," she told the BBC's Today programme.
"They don't follow those sports and they don't like either being forced to talk about them or not being included."
"I have nothing against sports enthusiasts or cricket fans - that's great," she said. "But the issue is many people aren't cricket fans," she added, arguing bosses should crack down on sports banter.
Should bosses "crack down" on women talking about makeup or shoes?
Even if it doesn't lead to "Hey, Colin, how 'bout them Florsheims!"?
The world is not going to be your tiny glowing oyster at all times. Understanding and even, yes, accepting this, is how you act like an adult worker instead of a kindergartner who needs mommy to stay with her and hold her hand at all times.
via ifeminists
Guys talk about life outside the home.
If you don't HAVE a life outside the home, you're going to be alone in any crowd.
Radwaste at January 29, 2020 3:43 AM
With two exceptions, I have a rule of no non-work-related conversations with women at work. And I'm a lot more careful than I used to be about having *any* conversation at work in a place where I don't know who might be listening.
Cousin Dave at January 29, 2020 6:13 AM
Get the women with children to stop talking about their children at work first.
El Verde Loco at January 29, 2020 6:39 AM
This doesn't even take into account that there are men who get excluded from the conversation because they're not into sports. And what happens to the men who discuss nerd culture at the office? Do women feel excluded from those, too?
Fayd at January 29, 2020 7:00 AM
I'm a guy and I HATE sportsball of every kind. I don't know anything about any of it. So, that limits the conversations I can have with other guys in my rare social interactions. Do I resent them talking about what they like? No, of course not. Because I'm an adult.
And, it sometimes means I end up the only guy talking to the (much more interesting) females. Win/win.
Kent McManigal at January 29, 2020 10:04 AM
"Lads" should give up talking about sports when
"birds" stop nattering on about celebrity gossip, ok?
The modern woman's sense of entitlement is truly breathtaking.
Jay R at January 29, 2020 12:49 PM
Working at a bank in San Francisco in the mid-nineties, I had to take a sensitivity class put on by HR. In it, the woman teaching it told the men in the class to stay away from sports metaphors as they may alienate women. A woman in the class then asked if she could still use them as she was a sports fan.
The whole thing fell apart when she told us one of the metaphors to avoid was "the whole nine yards." When asked by me what sport that was from, the instructor said, "football." Men and women in the class pointed out that 9 yards is nothing in football. Later, I pointed out to her that the origins of "the whole 9 yards" is buried in mystery - no one yet knows the origins of it.
And no, it's not the length of a machine gun belt on a World War II fighter or bomber. The phrase first appeared in common usage in the late '60s, but has been recorded as early as the '20s.
Conan the Grammarian at January 29, 2020 3:42 PM
"Lads" should give up talking about sports when
"birds" stop nattering on about celebrity gossip, ok?
_______________________________________
I would hope very few people past their teens would talk about celeb gossip in the workplace - OR socially. Certainly the few people in their 20s that I know are professional enough to focus on the job and the clients; they do not start conversations about celebs or sports unless asked first. Chatting with co-workers is just a waste of time, period.
It's embarrassing enough when college students talk a lot about celebs or sports - assuming they still do. As I've mentioned, at least parents in SOME other countries wouldn't dream of allowing their kids to wallow in those pursuits when they could be studying instead - and they don't want the SCHOOLS to spend lots of time and money on sports, either.
lenona at January 29, 2020 5:23 PM
“Chat about football or cricket in the workplace should be curtailed, a management body has warned.“
* * * * *
Chat about cricket should always be curtailed.
JD at January 29, 2020 7:42 PM
You hope in vain Lenona.
Ben at January 30, 2020 7:59 AM
When I was 15 working at a factory, during lunch I would glaze over while the guys talked baseball. One of them expressed to me their concern that if I wasn't smart enough to follow baseball then they were worried how I could function in life. hahaha I kid you not. As an adult I try to have a couple of recent sports facts handy to toss in.
When I am with a group of my engineer friends, we might get engrossed in a puzzle about infinite series or perpetual motion claims or Tesla etc. Are we supposed to refrain because the ladies don't like tech subjects? No. If a group of ladies want to brag about their kids, go for it. If they want to talk about JLo go ahead--I'll be getting coffee. People really need to act like grownups (I know, I'm asking too much).
cc at January 30, 2020 9:20 AM
I know one lady who got fired for getting into a fist fight at work over a donut. Try working middle management for a while. You'll find all your least productive people are freaking out over who smiled at who and who didn't say hi to me, yada yada yada.
At that point you give up on adults acting like adults.
Ben at January 30, 2020 11:31 AM
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