I've experienced discrimination, harassment and abuse since I was a 10-year-old. As a cute natural blonde, I was always treated in a sexual way as well as in the corporate world when I rose to the rank of a Vice President. If I wanted to keep my job(s), I had to just deal with it. There was no recourse for women and I actually lost a high-paying job for going to HR.
Back then, when I went to a male superior's office angry, he couldn't wait to get me out of there. They could confront each other but let an angry woman corner them and they were like a deer in the headlights. Sometimes I was so angry that I would cry in frustration - they liked that because I had just lost my power. I hated it when that happened!
My 80-year-old neighbor who was a schoolteacher just can't believe this was always part of my life. I had to share a few of my horror stories for her to understand and she was astonished.
I'm so grateful to the women who are speaking out. I'm 66 and retired so I'm not in the working world anymore but I still get treated like a dumb blonde. The maintenance guy at my apartment blamed me when my dishwasher died, saying I was using the wrong soap, wrong cycle, my water wasn't hot enough, blah blah blah. When I confronted him and told him to stop treating my like a dumb woman, he got aggressive and physically in my face. He couldn't handle being confronted with his sexism. I've already spoken to management about him so they send the young guy who I love to fix my stuff. Fuck him, I never will back down again!
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