"Ban Bossy"

<p>Bay, I hope your response was, “Let me get my secretary to handle that. Oh, Charles? Can you take care of this matter?”</p>

<p>LOL, CF. I wasn’t a pioneering woman in my field, I was the second wave after the 2-3 pioneers had opened the door. I remember we had a huge, huge client who was old school. My boss sent me over to the client’s office to deliver something. The client was annoyed, and said “I’ve never worked with a woman before”. Without missing a beat I said “if this is your first time, I’ll be gentle.” I kid you not - his mouth just fell open and he was speechless. I told my boss what I’d done when I got back and he was livid with me - until the client called and advised my boss that I was now a permanent part of his team. You just never know. </p>

<p>Frankly, I find now that the older men with daughters in the workforce are actually more open now. The ones who are worst are the men in their 20s and 30s in the finance industry. Everything to them is either war or football. </p>

<p>Hayden, great retort! That’s the sort of thing I would think of two days later. </p>

<p>If I’d taken time to think about it, I wouldn’t have said it! </p>

<p>I think it’s true that women in high school and college are much less likely to face this problem now–but the question is whether they will still face it in the workplace. I’m not convinced that it’s faded out as much as some people seem to think.</p>