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291 points Michelangelo11 | 54 comments | | HN request time: 2.164s | source | bottom
1. skinkestek ◴[] No.42057955[source]
> “You’re better looking than the guy I talked to before.” Such harassment remains common for tradeswomen

If people think this is harassment, no wonder people experience a lot of harassment.

Unless there was more to it the correct answer is along the lines of "yes thankfully" and then a laugh.

I'd recommend a good look in the mirror when looking for the problem in such situations.

Same goes for the thing about trying to discreetly notifying that someone has dirty hands:

Yes, I don't know what is up with Americans and demanding everyone has clean hands at all times, but as long as that is a thing this probably is meant as a favor. Maybe clumsily, but still.

More generally the saying: "when you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras" comes to mind:

If you expect things to be meant funny or helpful (and give people some slack) maybe life becomes a lot less stressful than if everything has to be seen through a lens of gender dynamics.

And if one is known as a reasonable person, I guess people will also take your side if you have to be loud and clear about something, e.g. if it turns out someone wasn't just clumsily trying to be nice or funny.

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2. blitzar ◴[] No.42058035[source]
I still get flashes of the traumatic day when I was in the kitchen area at work making myself a cup of tea and one of the female employees came in and said "You are a strong and tall man, can you get that heavy box from the top shelf for me".
replies(2): >>42058040 #>>42076978 #
3. kazinator ◴[] No.42058040[source]
I had that happen numerous times in supermarkets.
replies(1): >>42058126 #
4. blitzar ◴[] No.42058126{3}[source]
The supermarket encounters are most often dirty old women who are still stuck in the past, or have gotten away with it for so long they just don't know any better.
replies(2): >>42064195 #>>42066568 #
5. jandrese ◴[] No.42063292[source]
I think this is one of those cases where a strong majority of the population in question can handle the interactions just fine, but the ones who can not are extremely vocal about it. The complainers get their way and company policy is changed for everybody. Many people go "well, it was for the best I guess", but for others it is some whiner ruining the fun for everybody. In extreme cases we have national examples where people's entire careers have ended over a tasteless but largely harmless joke told decades earlier (See: Al Franken) and that kind of threat feels scary.
replies(1): >>42064385 #
6. pessimizer ◴[] No.42064195{4}[source]
It's not sexual harassment, it's flattery to get you to do a favor for them. They would never sleep with you. It's also extremely normal and anodyne.

Why do men think sexism is symmetrical? The reason sexual overtures from men are a problem is because they are usually serious and they are statistically threatening, because men often hurt women who don't respond to them in a way they deem appropriate. You would never fear this woman.

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7. fhfjfk ◴[] No.42064385[source]
This has more nuance than just whiners vs normal people.

Using verboten words as an example, I'm often willing to stop using words that others don't like. The harm to me is low (english is a big language, there's plenty of other words left), so if there's any harm at all to another it's reasonable for me to stop using the word. Assessment of harm will vary, as will harm to me from loss of words - which is why I stand my ground on some technical words.

My line is, n* - Not even going to type it pronouns - Whatever floats your boat master->main - Sure. Fine. I guess. Stop coming in my room and messing with my stuff. master/slave->controller/peripheral - Really? I'm going to say no for now, but work on brevity and check back later. MOSI/MISO->??? - NO.

Does drawing the line there make me a bigot? Where's the cutoff?

replies(1): >>42072702 #
8. jfengel ◴[] No.42064407[source]
As an isolated incident, it's charming. When it's every day of your life, it gets to be upsetting. Especially when past experiences have included more than on incident where the charming line was followed by anger and insults when it wasn't properly appreciated.

Ask your female friends if it's ever happened to them. I expect a large majority of them will be able to tell you a story.

Here's the best way I've been able to come up with, to get a feel for it. Suppose you have a nice watch. When somebody says, "Nice watch!", you say, "Thanks". But when you start meeting more than one person who won't stop talking about your watch, you get a little antsy. When somebody follows up with "Give me your fucking watch!" you start to think about leaving it at home some times.

Except that when you're a woman, you can never leave that at home.

This experience really isn't just about her. It's something practically all women experience. She seems to have just assumed her audience would share that context -- perhaps a side effect of being in academia.

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9. fhfjfk ◴[] No.42064506{5}[source]
As a fearful anxious man - Don't presume to know what I fear.

I expect variation in the women I meet, some will be scared of me and some have much bigger balls than I do. If I calibrate my banter such that 1% of women are scared, am I in the wrong?

replies(1): >>42089698 #
10. LitFan ◴[] No.42064540[source]
It sounds like from your perspective, being better looking than their co-workers is a good thing. By and large, men are going to find women better looking than other men. That means the "better looking" comment is directly pointing out that the recipient of the comment is a woman.

This article is talking specifically about the ways in which it is detrimental to be a tradeswoman. So in this context, being a woman makes it more difficult for this person to their job.

Looking at another example of something that would make being a tradesperson difficult: Would you call it harassment if customers were consistently making flippant remarks about a co-worker that was missing a hand?

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11. conradfr ◴[] No.42064921[source]
Workers in contact with the general population ear the same jokes everyday. Ask a cashier.

Actors get their famous catchphrases thrown at them consistently as well.

That's just the way it goes.

replies(1): >>42091865 #
12. marcellus23 ◴[] No.42065407[source]
You can choose your response to such things. Annoying, sure. Uncomfortable, sure. But that's life. At a certain point you have to just accept that things like the comment in the GP (which, to be clear, is the behavior I'm talking about here, not actual sexual harassment) will happen to you as a woman, and you can either get upset about it constantly and view yourself as a victim, or learn to accept that that's life.

People who are not women have to deal with such things as well, as a sibling commenter pointed out. Short guys, fat guys, skinny guys, they would all get picked on (in a friendly way or otherwise). The difference is that society will not tolerate them whining about it. Women won't care and men will laugh at them. So they suck it up.

It's frustrating when people say "just talk to a woman", as if all women have the same perspective on this, or women are the only ones who experience it. It's itself a sexist thing to say. I know women who don't have this kind of victim mentality and they're happier for it.

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13. boplicity ◴[] No.42065819{3}[source]
>learn to accept that that's life.

Yeah, harassment is is part of life. Just accept it, right!?

WTF? How low should our standards as a society be!?

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14. kupopuffs ◴[] No.42066160{4}[source]
I'm sure there's a line somewhere where "nice watch" or "you're better looking than the guy before" are acceptable
15. skinkestek ◴[] No.42066370[source]
> It sounds like from your perspective, being better looking than their co-workers is a good thing. By and large, men are going to find women better looking than other men. That means the "better looking" comment is directly pointing out that the recipient of the comment is a woman.

It is hard to be funny without referring to anything about the current situation.

16. nashashmi ◴[] No.42066568{4}[source]
> dirty old women who are still stuck in the past

This counts as an inflammatory statement. Even thinking this is beneath a person of fairness. Those are people too. And you may not like the era they were in and you may want to redefine the era of today to some lala make-believe, but at no point should you disrespect and denigrate the people who don't buy in to your redefinition.

It is like saying: Windows developers are stupid and stuck in the past because they cannot get in line with programming on a mac. come on! they don't have to. And they don't want to.

replies(1): >>42068950 #
17. nashashmi ◴[] No.42066624[source]
The other perspective on this is Women put a lot of care into how they look. Men don't. Admiration for your best qualities is a gesture of friendship. Same goes with those who are young and energetic. Statements like "pretty boy" is a compliment and adoration. Or statements like "big guy" or "general" for old and experienced.
18. TacticalCoder ◴[] No.42066827[source]
> If people think this is harassment, no wonder people experience a lot of harassment.

Especially seen that people pushing for this to be considered harassment are the exact same demographic closing their eyes when it's pointed to them that number of actual rapes are going through the roof in Europe.

White men joking about a woman looking good: harassment. White women getting raped: eyes closed, don't want to hear about it.

And of course the overlap between polite people complimenting women that they're good looking and actual rapists is approximately zero.

Priorities, priorities.

19. andyp-kw ◴[] No.42067156{4}[source]
As a man who lived outside western society for many years, I often received comments about my looks and mannerisms.

Did I cry like a baby, no. I made jokes about their looks and mannerisms. It's called banter.

There is a line that should not be crossed, but someone making one off comments on the out of the ordinary shouldn't be classed as harassment.

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20. globular-toast ◴[] No.42067427[source]
I often wonder what my life would be like if I'd been told as a child that I would face discrimination. Would I attribute every failure, rejection, misfortune, and unfair treatment to systematic discrimination? I think I probably would.
replies(1): >>42074230 #
21. thrance ◴[] No.42067430{3}[source]
Or you know, we can collectively work on not making people uncomfortable because of who they are. Just because a behavior is very common today doesn't mean it is universal and written in our DNA. Society has become more tolerant over time, and that is a good thing. You wouldn't tell your female assistant to wear shorter dresses like in Mad Men, even if that wasn't considered unusual in the 60s.
replies(1): >>42069473 #
22. blitzar ◴[] No.42068950{5}[source]
It is like saying: dirty old man or even perverted old man. Which has probably been uttered 100s of thousands, maybe millions of times on this planet today in reference to men (those filthy perverts) interacting with others.
replies(1): >>42079942 #
23. marcellus23 ◴[] No.42069312{4}[source]
No, receiving comments like "you're better looking than the guy before" is a part of life. Using the term "harassment", which is vague enough to cover both innocuous comments like that, and actually creepy disgusting stuff, is an easy way to create a strawman.
24. marcellus23 ◴[] No.42069473{4}[source]
I never claimed we should not strive for that kind of society. My points were that: 1) this is not a problem unique to women, 2) that comment specifically should only upset you if you have a very thin skin, and 3) having a very thin skin is not a good trait to have and everyone should strive to be able to handle comments like that without getting upset.

I actually think humans will never be able to achieve a utopia where no one will ever be made uncomfortable for who they are. One problem is that some people are more sensitive than others. Put another way, someone will always get offended at something. At some point you have to draw a line and say everything on this side of the line is fine, and if you get upset, it's _your_ problem.

replies(1): >>42069700 #
25. zahlman ◴[] No.42069571[source]
>Ask your female friends if it's ever happened to them.

Many years ago, I used to take this advice seriously.

The feedback I got was generally along the lines of "what are you talking about?" and implications that it's weird to ask, so I stopped.

>It's something practically all women experience.

It's strange to me how so many people believe themselves to have this insight.

replies(1): >>42077042 #
26. javajosh ◴[] No.42069700{5}[source]
>having a very thin skin is not a good trait to have

It is if you get leverage from it. There is a perverse incentive to have thin skin - in fact, you can get flak for not having thin enough skin, these days. I once heard someone call it "reverse CBT". I invented a game called "Take it Personal" to demonstrate how easy this is, where the participants say anodyne things to each other and are tasked with taking offense. It is an easy game, if an unhappy one.

27. AnnualDegree99 ◴[] No.42072702{3}[source]
On the contrary, I think Controller/Peripheral is more precise and descriptive than Master/Slave in the context of Master/Slave protocols.
replies(1): >>42087090 #
28. skinkestek ◴[] No.42074230[source]
I wasn't included in almost anything (games, typically soccer in breaks, after school activities) before I was almost a teenager and switched school.

That was also the first time I didn't get in trouble for defending my personal space.

I had poor parents (dad working low paid jobs, stay at home mom). Grew up far from cousins. Started working (real, hard work) as soon as it was legal as a 15 y.o. Started paying my own clothes and shoes then as far as possible.

I probably could have made a point out of all that more often, but I have chosen to be thankful for loving parents, growing up in a good country and getting a lot of friends as I grew up.

But I do find it hilarious when certain HNers want to educate me about privilege just because I am a white SW engineer.

Edit, to be clear: I don't accuse you of trying to educate me. It seems you are just thinking out loud.

I am just pointing out that it is possible to not let ones background influence ones present too much.

29. bitcharmer ◴[] No.42074666[source]
It's the oppression olympics of 2024. Some people just like to get offended recreationally.
30. DrPimienta ◴[] No.42076006{5}[source]
If rules and laws aren't going to be applied equally to women the way they are to men, then why should men and women ever be treated equally?

Black people are statistically much, much more likely to commit rape, murder, and robbery than any other racial group. Would you agree this is reason to fear black people, the way you believe it's justified to fear men? I mean "they are statistically threatening" after all.

replies(1): >>42083718 #
31. akimbostrawman ◴[] No.42076440[source]
You know you are incredible privileged when the worst example of harassment you can use to virtue signal is a playful compliment.

https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/663/485/1f8...

32. skulk ◴[] No.42076978[source]
Haha, yes funny absurd gender swap. You should actually talk to women and try to understand why they feel the way they feel instead of ridiculing it.
replies(1): >>42086258 #
33. skulk ◴[] No.42077042{3}[source]
I don't know what to tell you. Every single woman I've had enough rapport with to have this discussion has told me several horror stories. They have a deep fear and hatred for the type of man who thinks it's okay to sexually harass a woman when he feels like it (something frighteningly many people here seem totally fine with).
replies(1): >>42078323 #
34. zahlman ◴[] No.42078323{4}[source]
I don't know what to tell you. No comments I can see in this discussion plausibly suggest that anyone here "seems totally fine with" sexually harassing women on a whim.
replies(1): >>42091887 #
35. nashashmi ◴[] No.42079942{6}[source]
It is nothing like tht
replies(1): >>42091890 #
36. ◴[] No.42083718{6}[source]
37. DrPimienta ◴[] No.42086258{3}[source]
The fact that you would dismiss his lived experience this way is disgusting, problematic, patronizing, and sexist.
38. DrPimienta ◴[] No.42086385{5}[source]
"It's not sexual harassment, it's flattery to get you to do a favor for them. They would never sleep with you."

That's the same with men too, usually. Why do you think it's sexism?

39. fhfjfk ◴[] No.42087090{4}[source]
There's cases where a peripheral could be a master.

The BLE wireless protocol separates roles into central/peripheral and server/client. Often, but not always, a peripheral is a server.

40. kazinator ◴[] No.42089698{6}[source]
All that matters is how real is what you fear. Any difference between fear and reality is for shrinks to deal with, not public policy.
41. jorvi ◴[] No.42090236{3}[source]
Not to mention, guys live the other side of the coin: you can often go months, weeks or years without a genuine compliment.

Two particular instances I remember:

- a couple of streamers in a chat, and this was brought up. One of the girls in the chat didn't believe it and yelled at her brother, who promptly answered that the most recent compliment they received that was not from their mother was 3 years ago. Cue other guys in the stream relaying the same story.

- multiple people that transitioned from female-to-male, all of them mentioning they didn't realize how lonely you are as a man in the world, and how invisible you seem to be. Some almost got suicidal because of it.

replies(3): >>42090620 #>>42097269 #>>42100152 #
42. marcellus23 ◴[] No.42090620{4}[source]
At least one actually did commit suicide from that IIRC.
43. averageRoyalty ◴[] No.42091865{3}[source]
"Sugar?"

"No, I'm sweet enough"

100% agree, this is just people filling the emptiness with idle chatter. Intent matters.

replies(1): >>42093774 #
44. averageRoyalty ◴[] No.42091887{5}[source]
I suspect the variant is in different peoples views on what constitutes 'sexual harassment'. There was a significant reduction in this (especially in the workplace) in the 90s and 00s. The issue wasn't (and never will be) solved, but has objectively improved significantly.

In the last 10-15 years (especially since #metoo) the bar seems to have moved drastically, what is encompassed under this term has changed. Additionally, a whole new generation grew up now having experinenced the decades before, setting their expectations differently.

I strongly suspect yours and the GPs people you've spoken to come from different age demographics, politicial spheres or both.

45. averageRoyalty ◴[] No.42091890{7}[source]
Can you explain why? It seems a fair comparison to me.
replies(1): >>42097417 #
46. fennecbutt ◴[] No.42092245[source]
Harassment seems universal for anyone outside the norm tho. I've (gay) been pressed by colleagues about having children before, when they find out I'm gay they've still pressed (just you wait, you'll realise you want them eventually).

I personally didn't care myself but I would still class it as harassment. Or like being told I had "man flu" by a female member of staff, to which I said nothing of course. Because what do you say?

Along with many more instances of what I would call harassment. Women definitely experience a higher degree of it for sure, but I think many men also brush being harassed off, the same as they do for a lot of things that would make one seem unmanly.

47. fennecbutt ◴[] No.42092261{5}[source]
That's your perspective though. Others' perspective is that it is a form of harassment, and reactions like yours are toxic masculinity, a feminist catch phrase, of ignoring our issues and feelings. Yet for all the hate for toxic masculinity, as a gay guy all I see is that straight guys are still forced to uphold those traits in a bizarre way. Yes, be violent she says now, but only to those who insult me.
48. mewpmewp2 ◴[] No.42093774{4}[source]
It is hard as a customer as well if you are aware about it. You just want to do something light hearted to break the ice, but the other side has seen everything, so should you just shut up, which sounds a bit depressing. And sometimes you get a flash of what you think might be witty, but obviously the other side has had those interactions 1000s of times and what are the odds of coming up with something exactly original and funny enough.
49. BobaFloutist ◴[] No.42097269{4}[source]
Men could fix this quite easily by starting to compliment one another, or by starting a culture of not interpreting women's compliments as come ons.
replies(1): >>42127764 #
50. nashashmi ◴[] No.42097417{8}[source]
Because perverts are few? Because perverse people are unliked? Because no one is ok with perverts? Because calling someone a pervert is an offense?

Fair comparison??

replies(1): >>42097746 #
51. DrPimienta ◴[] No.42097746{9}[source]
>Because perverts are few? Yes, now you understand why it's so annoying and offensive. Women will fly off the handle and accuse any man they don't like of being sexually dangerous when the vast majority of men are just going about their life. It's extremely banal.
52. edflsafoiewq ◴[] No.42100152{4}[source]
When's the last time he gave a compliment?
53. marcellus23 ◴[] No.42127764{5}[source]
I'll bring it up at the next male convention where we all decide as a group how we should behave.
replies(1): >>42157212 #
54. BobaFloutist ◴[] No.42157212{6}[source]
I mean it would be pretty easy to make it happen in any given friend group.

If a man has 0 male friends, that's a different problem then the way that men treat even their close friends.