The fact that so many men think that it’s a lie that women have been (and still do get) fired for being pregnant tells me all I need to know about how badly out of touch they are with the reality of being a woman. I’ve seen it happen to countless women, my entire career.
I was warned to never reveal anything about my personal life in job interviews, because interviewers would infer that I might be pregnant or trying to get pregnant. Laughable really, since media jobs also don’t offer health insurance if they can help it.
And because of this, I would get questions from (male) bosses constantly. “How come a cute little girl like you hasn’t gotten someone to marry you yet?” <- actual question from a news director. “Because I don’t want to be,” I would tell them without smiling when it came up.
It was the closest thing to telling my bosses to fuck off that I could manage at that point in my life (late 20s to early 30s) but then I just started telling them to fuck off. That’s how I became management lol
Anyone who has seen me speak anywhere has also seen how men line up afterward to explain to me (wrongly) that I’m wrong. Sometimes they’ll just get up and interrupt me to (wrongly) argue some finer point with me. It’s rude, relentless, and part of the same continuum of behaviors.
The message is that there’s no way a little slip of a thing like me could handle big weighty topics like Facts and Reason. Because women lie, right? Like about getting fired for being pregnant. Only it’s all true and has been, and men just worked really hard to not see it.
Oh I now tell them to sit down and shut their pie hole. I used to hear them out but who has the fucking time?
I haven't even gotten to the part where I am iced out by men and called "not credible" or "disappointing" (as they take credit for my ideas and work with abandon) but their tune changes when I work on projects about women, babies, animals, or other patriarchy-approved activities.
The replies to this are so infuriating, because they're all so familiar and because this has gone on for so long. Men, if you really want us to think not all men are part of this, then help us end it. We're really tired.
Women: Solidarity always. Except for the Serena Joy types
Women: Solidarity always. Except for the Serena Joy types
