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Sexism and HR – Why stupid people should NEVER hire others
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>> (NOTE! If you enjoy this post, please feel free to share with your friends and twitter it with the tinylink http://tinyurl.com/3w5fqw . Thanks, I appreciate it! Oh, and please feel free to comment below...I love reading what you have to say! -- Barbara)
Morning!
Today’s topic is centered upon a concept that’s near and dear to my heart, especially as I’m currently battling PMS that would make Bambi’s mother double as Godzilla’s worst nightmare.
It centers upon stupidity.
More importantly, men afflicted with stupidity.
Now, before you go screaming at me that I’m being sexist and ill-informed and bitter and man-hating and all those other lovely non-PC terms of endearment, let me assure you….I KNOW firsthand how utterly clueless women can be as well! But THIS following story….deals with men.
It happened yesterday when I was chatting with a karate mom and watching my kids spar. Now, I happen to adore karate sparring myself; I find the experience of being pushed past what I thought I could achieve and being forced out of my comfort boundaries to be character-building to the extreme.
The mom asked me my opinions about sparring, and nodded knowingly as I shared the above. After all, we women know that the past cultural beliefs of "Men strong! Women weak!" are utterly outdated and hopelessly pathetic in today’s society; women should never have to rely upon someone else for emotional or spiritual strength.
Well! The karate dad to the right of me said:
Jeepers Barb, it seems like you just LIKE pain. That’s why you spar, right?
(Cut to thought bubbles popping over Barbara’s head that said, "Must….hold onto….temper! Don’t…..WANNA….hold onto…..temper!)
Calmly returning his earnest stare, I responded,
No, I don’t like pain. I DO like showing I can get PAST pain and continue to fight on.
To which he responded,
Gee, are you one of those woman’s libbers?
and various other archaic expressions.
Sigh. This is one reason why I love training with Millennials half my age at the dojo; they respect the fact that I’m making up for lost time and really make me fight to come out in one piece. ‘course, that’s not really being fair – the guys my age who ALSO train are very helpful too. But the ones who sit outside and wait for the kids…..ARGH!
Which brings me to the point of this post.
Stupid people should never hire others. They’ll let their own preconceived notions blind them to diamonds in the rough.
Sad to say, sexism and personal agendas are still lying under the skin of mortal people today. True, it’s illegal in hiring…and true, it’s also not fair whatsoever….but recognizing a potential problem is the first step to making it better.
Are your recruiters or HR personnel still shackled by outdated ideas regarding men and women in the workplace? If so, here are some useful resources to help dissolve the stupidity and ideally prevent you from being sued.
- Are Gender Preferences in Hiring always Sexist?
- Dealing with sexism from "nice" males
- Sexism workplace articles
- Sexism workplace articles II
- Sexism and the City
- Sexism in hiring decisions
- Sexism in the city still a hiring factor?
- Sexism in the Workplace
- Sexism in Trade Professionals
- So They Had To Hire A Woman?
I hope the above has been a wee bit eyeopening to you. Back when I was a lead unix sysadmin (typically a ‘manly pursuit’), I could run rings around any security or development admin with nary a shoulder shrug. Being able to wreak miracles earned me the respect of my colleagues….but if I were dealing with solely a recruiter or HR drone who believed only men should wrangle huge time-bomb computers, I’d probably have been passed over in favor of an individual who possessed a penis. After all, that appendage is so important when debugging kernal failures. 
Make certain you don’t fall prey to the same mistake! Certainly, there are time-tested occupations that have a higher percentage of males OR females…but that doesn’t mean your next shining star isn’t ready to break the mold and catapult your company’s goals to the next level.
In closing, I’d also like to urge you NOT to fall prey to reverse-sexism as well. Treating men like second-class citizens is just as pathetic as the reverse; I’ve seen quality guys get eaten up and spit out in the corporate world simply because the women managers knew they’d be protected in the long run.
Remember, we’re all colleagues in this thing called ‘life’ – shed any preconceived notions you might have and let the chips fall where they might. It’s a wise thing to do…wouldn’t you agree?
Enjoy,
Barbara Ling
ps – speaking about sexism:
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Another great post Barbara! If I had a bra I would be burning it.
I thought it was interesting that you cited a book on Transsexuals. There was an incident in Microsoft where a manager left as a man and returned later as a woman. Microsoft was given kudos for its tolerance of this, but I KNOW that would not be the case in the average cubicle of Corporate America. What are your thoughts on that?
Jim Stroud’s last blog post..ANNOUNCEMENT: First Thursday begins on October 2nd
I would completely agree with you, Jim. You only have to look as far as your local news to see the lack of tolerance for just about ANYTHING not mainstream. Kudos indeed for how Microsoft handled it!
Best wishes, Barbara