Prejudices at Work - Part 1

Gender bias and stereotyping has left me concerned and unnerved quite often, more so in the work environment. It does not mean that I do not see or feel the bias in the social or personal setting – I have gone through phases of realization, frustration, revolt and resignation, in this context. But right now, it’s in the context of professional environment, that I want to rant against.

Let me clarify at the beginning that I am not a hard-core male-bashing feminist [the diametrically opposite stereotype, if I may so call it so]. However, I do expect, and demand, a dignity and empathy for women and a recognition of their efforts in different aspects of life. And this should be a woman’s fundamental right - whether she is working (full-time, part –time, or freelance), or is a home-maker. This is a post that I have been thinking of writing for a long time, but which was always getting deferred, and was finally precipitated by an incident at work today.

I was having lunch with two of my (male) colleagues, let’s call them P and J [and no, this is not a PJ ;-)]. To set a bit of context, they have only been slightly acquainted with each other, but I know them both reasonably well. During the course of conversation, they discovered a mutual interest in consumer electronics, they are both gadget freaks, owning full-fledged home-theater systems and what-not. Finding that J is quite knowledgeable about deeper technical aspects of all these things [no surprises there actually – J is a hardware engineer ;-)], P sought his advise on buying the latest iPhone (4) – which model to buy, and how to get an unlocked one from US (lower cost there). While discussing pros and cons, pricing and timing, of different models, P mentioned that he wanted it for his wife, who only uses her phone for calls, and sometimes for mails (a condescending tone there – at her not using the advanced features of smart phones, and I can assure you that it is not because of the lack fo capability). And J promptly replied – in a tone I found even more condescending to women - then you can buy 3Gs only. 

I am all for buying (and paying for), only what you need/use. But I object to the tone and the attitude, reserved by men for women, for certain matters like technology.

The conversation continued in this vein (like, P said he tried to get his wife to use FB on her phone, but she didn’t, and J said the same about his). For a while, I put up with it. Then I finally reacted (with as much dignity and humor I could manage), and said, you sound almost like a racist there. And then, the fire was directed at me

P/J:, do you use iPhone?

Me: Only some times, since its not mine, but I use iPod touch for net access.

P/J: How many apps do you use on it?

Me: (Thinking and wondering): I don’t really use apps. I don’t need ….

P/J: See, there! Anyway! So, what do you do with it?

Me: (rightfully indignant) Well I do all my net access at home through it, my mail, FB, LinkedIn, Browser etc. Don’t really need to access net for anything else.

P/J: Well, you know, there is a difference between accessing FB and Gmail through the apps and the browser … you can access using browser as well ….

Folks?!! Come on!! I take it as a gross insult, for myself, and the whole of woman-kind. We may be from Venus, but the gravity there is not high enough to pull down and out, all of logical reasoning from our beings. I was mad enough to shout at them, but was held back by the decorum demanded by the workplace (and not to mention, my personal incapability of coming up with an acidic retort at the right time).