Constitutional Law

What's the Most Sexist Thing You've Heard At Work?

By Sam Ritchie, ACLU

Our post about the ongoing sex discrimination class action against Wal-Mart — Women: Do You Work Just for the Sake of Working? — generated an overwhelming response. The stories of women involved in the case, Dukes v. Wal-Mart, struck a chord with many of you. The women reported that managers had said things like:

• "Men are working as the heads of their households, while women are just working for the sake of working."
• "Men are here to make a career and women aren't. Retail is for housewives who just need to earn extra money."
• "You're a girl, why do you want to work in hardware?"
• "Find a husband to settle down with and have children to relieve... work-related stress."

Outrageous, right? But just as outrageous were the many things readers reported they'd been told by bosses and managers during their own careers. It all goes to show: sex discrimination is alive and well in many American workplaces.

What about you? What's the most sexist thing you've been told or witnessed while at work? Share your stories on our Facebook page!

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Full post as published by Blog of Rights on March 03, 2011 (boomark / email).