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Subject:Re: The Ugly Incident From:Elna Tymes <etymes -at- LTS -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 20 Oct 1998 11:56:41 -0700
George Mena wrote:
> 2) Avoid Male-Female Co-Worker Confrontations Like The Plague: This is one
> issue men will never win 200 times out of 100, guaranteed, even if, somehow,
> the men are "right." The best way to deal with a loudmouth woman is to have
> absolutely nothing to do with her. Period. Loudmouth women are nothing but
> trouble. They are to be avoided whenever possible.
The worth of whatever else George may have had to say got totally lost in my
reaction to the above. If ever there was a case of blatant sexism at work, it
was obvious in the paragraph above.
The problem, dear George, is not with male-female interactions. It's with
interactions between PEOPLE. Gender has nothing to do with it. NOTHING.
There are loudmouth males and loudmouth females, and loudmouths of every sexual
orientation you can think of. Some of the loudmouths actually say worthwhile
things, AND get listened to, because people around them simply get used to the
fact that these things get stated more firmly/loudly when coming from this
person than from others. And yes, sometimes the arrogance tends to trip them
up.
Having been a "loudmouth woman" most of my adult life, I can vouch for the fact
that it's one effective style, in a palette of work styles that mostly work.
There are others that work as well, and many that don't. I have been a pubs
manager in a number of companies, and acting project manager in far too many to
count, and my being a "loudmouth woman" has generally not gotten in the way of
me and my team, whatever they may include, delivering what we're supposed to do,
on time.
George - you owe the women on this list - and I suspect they outnumber the men -
quite an apology for your over-generalized remarks.
