I’m a business owner who values my employees and cares about their needs. I hear their suggestions and complaints, and consider them when making nearly any company decision. Now, more than ever, it has become clear to me that women face a disproportionate amount of obstacles when it comes to my behavior in the workplace.
For example, just the other day I was talking with one of my project team members at her cubicle. She was pretty clearly trying to get back to work, but I kept making small talk and cracking jokes to her because she looked good in the dress she was wearing. It’s little things that I do like this that women have to put up with almost every working hour, and I don’t even realize it’s a problem.
Day in and day out, women are constantly judged by me for their looks, rather than the merit of their work. Climbing the corporate ladder proves to be a much more difficult task for women, especially when I only consider giving them promotions if I find them attractive.
It doesn’t stop there. In nearly every conference meeting I ignore my female colleagues’ opinions and ideas if they sound shrill. And if one of those ideas is a critique on the direction the company is taking, I’ll probably chalk up her moodiness to hormones.
The problems don’t just start in the workplace either. When it comes to hiring, I see hundreds of resumes in the course of an hour. But it’s a real time saver when a woman’s name comes up, because I normally throw them away. Especially if their name is really ditzy sounding like Emily, or Amber. It’s a shame.
It’s unfortunate really, that in almost every field of work, women have to put up with selfish and entitled people such as myself. If we ever want real equality in the workplace, men like myself will stop writing bigger checks for themselves than the women, unless we really earned it this year.
