Sexism: Yes, it still exists

Two weeks ago, as I was walking down the hall toward the room where I was scheduled to give a speech, a maintenance worker greeted me with “Good morning pretty lady.” This was not someone I had ever seen before and he had no idea who I was nor was there any reason to believe I would ever see him again. I was dressed in a business suit on a Saturday morning so was clearly an “outsider.”

I asked myself two questions immediately. The first was: should I be worried that he will follow me? The second was: if the tables were turned and the maintenance worker were female and I were male, would she have said, “Helloooo handsome”? It occurred to me then and there that this was sexism in the workplace and that women still put up with things that men don’t…sometimes without realizing it.

In her recent blog, Ilene Lang, CEO of Catalyst, addresses sexism. She writes, “The belief that a woman is not as capable as a man simply because she is a woman is at the root of many challenges we face. Spectacular examples of sexism and harassment get front and center attention—Anthony Weiner is merely the latest in a long line. But insidious day-to-day sexism often goes unchecked, unnamed, and tolerated. I’m talking about sexual harassment from men on the street in the form of “hey baby” or “sweetie,” scantily clad models who give out product samples in public spaces, or advertisements that pander to the lowest stereotypes.”

The type of harassment Lang mentions is fairly common: catcalls from construction workers, honks from truck drivers. We experience a reality that men don’t. These are overt forms of sexism, but there are covert forms as well.

Recently when I was playing golf, one of the men in the foursome hit a putt short. Immediately—and I knew this was coming—another of the men said, “Nice putt Sarah” to his friend. The point? Because he couldn’t hit the putt far enough to reach the hole, he was weak and “playing like a girl.” I am always surprised when a man says something like this in front of me. Doesn’t he realize he’s disparaging my gender? What made it all the more absurd was that I had outdriven the three men in the foursome on the previous two holes. I certainly wasn’t exhibiting weakness in my gender!

But more importantly, what if he made a similar comment but it had a racial slur instead? Would everyone have been okay with that? I think not. Women remain the last group that is socially acceptable to put down.

What can we do? We can increase our awareness. When do you see or hear signs of sexism in the workplace or in society? Should you be more careful about the wording you or your friends or your colleagues use? Let’s make sure that in the future, “playing like a girl” conjures up thoughts of the World Cup Women’s Soccer Team rather than someone who is “less than.”

By Erin Wolf