Jasmine Wing interprets the Monday morning sexism that dare not speak its name.
Ladies, we all work in sexism-free offices nowadays – yeah, right!?
Well, we know it’s not like that at the football ground. In the stands, where rowdiness rules and testosterone flows (like beer), sexism is as spontaneous as the singing. And it doesn’t start there – these attitudes stem from the director’s box where women are either highly sexualised (the gaggle of WAGs) or almost entirely absent (with Heather Rabbatts still the only non-executive director on the FA board).
On a Saturday afternoon, it’s crystal clear – women are treated as inferiors. But all the way through the working week, in many shops and offices, women are devalued to a similar degree – but the insults are dressed in a different kit.
The same men, swaying with their mates and chanting silly songs on a Saturday afternoon, are back in the office bright and early on Monday morning, surrounded by females, and raring to tackle them – but discreetly. Listen carefully to the office banter and you’ll find the same sentiments appearing. But in case you’ve missed some of this, what follows is a translation of Saturday Afternoon Slang to language that is acceptable around the photocopier.
So, Ladies, don’t be fooled by the fact that the put-downs are more subtle. And, Gents, don’t you be lulled into thinking that we don’t know what you are up to.
Jasmine Wing is Rising East‘s Health and Wellbeing Editor. @jasmineenatasha