There seem to be three types of people in this world when it comes to matters of sexism and social discrimination generally.
- There are those who recognize its ubiquity and dedicate much of their energy combating it.
- Then there are those who seem hellbent on denying its existence in any form, no matter how much evidence is brought to their attention.
- Finally, there’s the group I think I fit into most of the time. The guys (and let’s be honest, it is mostly guys) who 100% believe that discrimination is real and needs to be addressed, but who rarely understand the extent of the problem, because we just haven’t seen it in action as much as others have.
This story is a great illustrator of how eye opening it can be to get a clearer perspective on what discrimination is like. Martin R. Schneider (whose LinkedIn profile lists him as a “People-First HR Strategist, OD Practitioner, and Career Coach,” posted a long and very revealing Twitter thread about the time he stumbled into a “workplace sexism experiment.”
The results were incredible.
Preface
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839910253680553988
Chapter 1: Bad Boss
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839911261588566017
Chapter 2: Chain of Command
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839912016236142592
Chapter 3: Resistance
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839912736666632193
Chapter 4: Discovery
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839913165735485441
Chapter 5: Immediate Improvement
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839913863596343297
Chapter 6: Yeah. A lot.
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839914366757646337
Chapter 7: Hell
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839915081269981184
Chapter 8: Head-start
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839915987411533824
Chapter 9: Invisible Advantage
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839916949597474816
Chapter 10: Used to It
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839917707080368132
Chapter 11: Took it in Stride
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839918408611336193
Epilogue
https://twitter.com/SchneidRemarks/status/839932165030825984
Response: She Coulda Told You
Followup: This is valid/legit criticism. I’m getting some praise here I don’t think I deserve (but will take anyway)https://t.co/NlYhVEBhqg
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Response: Rude is the Norm
PS, surprising no one:https://t.co/iTjmViYFuJ
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Depending on which of the three groups you belong to (the ones I mentioned up top), you’re either not even slightly surprised, resentfully refusing to believe this is true because it doesn’t jive with your worldview, or, like me, you’re just a little surprised, and a lot disappointed. We gotta do better than this.
Have you had experiences like this?
Share them with us in the comments.