So I didn't have a great day, and I'm still not happy about it now.
I work with males, we have had other females before but not now, except in the office, and it's pretty much a big boys club. I get along with the guys well enough, but we do tease. One of the guys favourite games to play is 'the stupid thing my woman did', and they all spill 'em out and measure up to see who wins (or something, I'm not really sure). When they ask my opinions on their 'horrible lives' with these women I usually just say 'yeah, boys are dumb', with a smile, and they might say back 'You're right, girls are dumb', also with a smile, and we all carry on.
Today the homeowner was nearby, but pointedly ignoring us, and we were talking while we worked and one of the guys wives texted him and he went on a (quiet) mini-rant about her always bugging him when he was at work, blah, blah, blah and he asked me if I thought that was normal and I told him 'boys are dumb'. The female homeowner then came over and proceeded to lecture me for HOURS about how evil men were, how they all wanted to own women, and go around raping them willy-nilly but were afraid to go to jail, how they would all beat and murder their women if it wasn't against the law, how women should use sex to control the mans money, and..... I can't even recite all of the things she said. She seemed to think I agreed with her because of my stupid comment, and she also made no pretense that the guys wouldn't hear her.
It was horrible. I've honestly never seen hostility like this before. I started trying to talk her around to other points of view but one of the guys walked by and grabbed my arm and shook his head and when I looked up the other one was shaking his head, so, we listened. For like 5 hours. Nobody said anything to correct her or stop her, we just worked and listened to this pure hatred streaming out of her mouth.
The worst part of the whole thing was her two children (9-12?) were in and out, checking if they could whatever, she would keep it up while they were there and they didn't look the least bit phased. I remember her son patiently waiting for her to finish speaking to ask her something as she said 'and the only way to get some decent jewelry out of a man is to get on your knees, so you have to convince him to give you access to the bank accounts early on in the relationship, so you never have to degrade yourself like that.' and the kid didn't even blink. I feel so sad for this little girl growing up to think of half the world as an enemy you have to outmaneuver, and for this little boy who is going to grow up thinking god knows what about himself and women.
I told the guys on the way home I couldn't believe they could listen to that all day, and that I would stop teasing them about boys being dumb and they just laughed and said I had better not or they would have to stop teasing me. They said a lot of women feel like that about men, and not to worry about it. So it seems like they didn't really care, but I am still feeling bad about it. When I picked up my son tonight I gave him a big hug, which helped.
I work with males, we have had other females before but not now, except in the office, and it's pretty much a big boys club. I get along with the guys well enough, but we do tease. One of the guys favourite games to play is 'the stupid thing my woman did', and they all spill 'em out and measure up to see who wins (or something, I'm not really sure). When they ask my opinions on their 'horrible lives' with these women I usually just say 'yeah, boys are dumb', with a smile, and they might say back 'You're right, girls are dumb', also with a smile, and we all carry on.
Today the homeowner was nearby, but pointedly ignoring us, and we were talking while we worked and one of the guys wives texted him and he went on a (quiet) mini-rant about her always bugging him when he was at work, blah, blah, blah and he asked me if I thought that was normal and I told him 'boys are dumb'. The female homeowner then came over and proceeded to lecture me for HOURS about how evil men were, how they all wanted to own women, and go around raping them willy-nilly but were afraid to go to jail, how they would all beat and murder their women if it wasn't against the law, how women should use sex to control the mans money, and..... I can't even recite all of the things she said. She seemed to think I agreed with her because of my stupid comment, and she also made no pretense that the guys wouldn't hear her.
It was horrible. I've honestly never seen hostility like this before. I started trying to talk her around to other points of view but one of the guys walked by and grabbed my arm and shook his head and when I looked up the other one was shaking his head, so, we listened. For like 5 hours. Nobody said anything to correct her or stop her, we just worked and listened to this pure hatred streaming out of her mouth.
The worst part of the whole thing was her two children (9-12?) were in and out, checking if they could whatever, she would keep it up while they were there and they didn't look the least bit phased. I remember her son patiently waiting for her to finish speaking to ask her something as she said 'and the only way to get some decent jewelry out of a man is to get on your knees, so you have to convince him to give you access to the bank accounts early on in the relationship, so you never have to degrade yourself like that.' and the kid didn't even blink. I feel so sad for this little girl growing up to think of half the world as an enemy you have to outmaneuver, and for this little boy who is going to grow up thinking god knows what about himself and women.
I told the guys on the way home I couldn't believe they could listen to that all day, and that I would stop teasing them about boys being dumb and they just laughed and said I had better not or they would have to stop teasing me. They said a lot of women feel like that about men, and not to worry about it. So it seems like they didn't really care, but I am still feeling bad about it. When I picked up my son tonight I gave him a big hug, which helped.
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