Equality Myth: Come On, Do Men Really Make Better Bosses?

i have mixed feelings on this. the statement above, absolutely truthful (from my own experiences) but there is an interesting dynamic with women bosses and women employees- i’ve met women who agreed they’d prefer a male boss. and hell, i’ve said the same myself.

i think the root of the issue is that many women (warning: gross generalization here) have evolved to become almost comically accurate to the stereotypes that other people have built around them. i’ve seen women blow up in workplaces in totally inappropriate ways, that is- ways that a guy never would. (amusingly enough- both times they were screeching at a guy who was kind of confused at why he was being yelled at to begin with. sound familiar?) and things like that do have to stop. it’s the reason that the stereotypes are reinforced over and over again. there is nothing wrong with acting your gender but some behavior is just not appropriate for a professional setting.

quite honestly, i don’t mind (and find it far more natural) to exhibit the “male” characteristics of professionals vs. female characteristics. (what the hell are professional female characteristics anyway? that don’t apply to men?) what exactly is masculine about being aggressive and bold? nothing. it’s a human quality, not a male quality. all women should be equally aggressive and forward. freelancing helped me learn my way around that world, through many mistakes and eating it when i acted too passively and ended up getting screwed with the workload.

on a slightly related note- i am so SO against women’s “professional wear” that it makes me enraged if i think about it too much. i also believe it reinforces biases. why the hell do women have to wear uncomfortable pointy, heeled-whatever shoes and extremely restrictive “power suits” and pencil skirts? what the fuck is that? i can’t feel safe walking in a pencil skirt OR heels- what if there was an emergency? what if i had to run?

trying to dress in professional attire is one of the most stressful things i’ve ever tried to do, the few times i’ve had to. the outfits and button downs are fitted, obviously, but that makes for extremely constrictive clothing. i can’t code or make shit or sit on a couch and draw some awesome sketches in pantyhose and heels, yanno? and don’t even get me started on HEELS. most evil fucking thing on this planet.

summary: don’t treat yourself like a sex object if you’re going to work. work towards being an aggressive and strong human, not a “professional male”. you don’t need heels, foundation and a blazer to be taken seriously, and if you do- you should probably hit the books again or build up your skillset.

do men wear makeup to work? fuck that. do men stress about their outfit, stuff their feet in tiny pointed shoes or have to buy special underwear that doesn’t show through the flimsy skirts they have to wear? no, they’d fucking revolt if they had to put up with that kind of shit.

and if you’ve read this far- i apologize for the complete lack of focus of the previous paragraphs combined. trying to make this all proper and cohesive like an essay would turn it into a thesis.