The Female Science Professor blog has a post this week that is must reading.
Let’s just dispense with the obvious right away. Humor is not the intent of sexist “jokes.” They have a few key (and malevolent) purposes–to draw a cordon around the in group (men), send a message that women do not belong, and make it difficult or impossible for women to succeed. (Of course, in the blog writer’s case, the “joke” turned into something much worse when it became clear that no one would stop the perpetrator.)
As a result, if we decide to challenge a person telling a sexist joke, the most important step might be to reject the premise that it is a joke at all and to ignore claims that its intent was harmless. The best way that to do that might be to calmly say, “That isn’t a joke, and I don’t find it funny.” As appropriate, we can then simply move on. If the behavior continues, we might say something like, “If you’re not willing to interact in a professional way, I’ll take the steps needed to move forward with [the task].” If the behavior continues, simply leave. Following that, you might consider some of the ideas found here in question 4 of the “Answering Tough Questions” section of our blog.
Why do sexist remarks and sexist jokes matter? This female science professor’s story shows why. Sexist expression is the point of the spear for a system designed to keep women out—out of male-dominated fields, out of leadership roles, and out of the networks where valuable connections are made. Left unchallenged, these remarks and jokes often do not go away—rather, they morph into open harassment and intimidation. When we stand up to the people making them, especially with a group of supportive colleagues, we have a chance of upending the whole sexist culture of a place.
Steve
