Battle Tactics For Your Sexist Workplace

On this week’s podcast, we share an episode from a podcast we love, Scene on Radio. The episode explores the idea of ‘himpathy,’ or the disproportionate empathy that men receive compared with other groups. —- Several years after Janey was sexually assaulted by her former boyfriend, Mathew, she told some of her closest friends, and her mother, what Mathew had done. Janey was so troubled by her loved ones’ responses, or lack thereof, that she went back to them years later to record conversations about it all. In this episode: Janey’s story, and philosopher Kate Manne, who coined the term “himpathy” in her 2017 book, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny. With co-hosts John Biewen and Celeste Headlee. To hear more of Janey Williams’ story and the conversations she had with friends, check out her podcast, “This Happened”, available on most podcast apps and at http://www.thishappenedpodcast.com/ (thishappenedpodcast.com). Music by Alex Weston, Evgueni and Sacha Galperine, and Kevin MacLeod. Music and production

Dress for the job you want. Dress for success. We have all been looking for that the magic combination of clothing that projects “I’m smart yet approachable yet not looking for inappropriate attention AT ALL yet totally a team player yet absolutely a boss yet not too bossy.” Businesses like Stitch Fix, MM LaFleur and Armoire exist because they promise to grapple with this problem for us and deliver solutions in the form of curated clothing. But what if you don’t think throwing a ton of money at this is a solution? Savannah Sly, a longtime sex worker and former cannibis startup employee has a fascinating idea about how women and non-binary people can think differently about dressing for work: think about the persona you are trying to embody. Want to help make BTSW better? Fill out our audience survey here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=uMFXPa70OUatsTMSrjvIJ0y3PyFS25pMr1Ao2OmurhdURFdVMlZIMVM5NkoyUVREUVkyTFRQU1JESi4u (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=uMFXPa70OUatsTMSr

Hate your sexist boss? Ok, so why not be your own boss? This is one of the draws of pursuing freelancing as a career. While freelancing offers wonderful plus sides, it also comes with new uncertainties and pressures that many traditional jobs don’t have. And it comes with many of the same gendered and racial biases found in traditional jobs too. Award-winning journalist Celeste Headlee knows this dilemma well and shares her insights with Eula and Jeannie.

Have you ever wondered why so many people have had experiences with bad bosses? Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel talk about this with Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, who explains that while it’s a problem that there aren’t enough women in leadership across fields, a major contributor to that problem is an acceptance incompetent leaders, who are often men. Love this podcast? Support KUOW Public Radio and BTSW by donating here: https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus (https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus)

It’s commonly accepted at this point that the idea of leaning in is at best flawed, at worst myopic, harmful, and privileged AF. But when Jeannie and Eula explored the book Lean In further, they noticed something troubling. Leaning In is a tactic, much like the ones they suggest on the show. Double Shift host and journalist Katherine Goldstein loved* Lean In* at first. She even started her own Lean In Circle. Today, she sees its flaws clearly - but she also thinks many of us are too quick to gloss over why it was so important and ultimately helpful. She tells Eula and Jeannie why so many of us kind of needed Lean In, even when it hurt us more than it helped us. Love this podcast? Support KUOW Public Radio and BTSW by donating here: https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus (https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus)

Maybe Madeline Albright is right that there’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women. And on BTSW we’ve leaned pretty hard into this idea that we all need to stand up and with our women co-workers. But, as evidenced by notes and stories from our own listeners, we're not all doing that. Eula and Jeannie talk to Leslie Feinzaig of the Female Founders Alliance about why it’s important to help your women and non-binary colleagues and what that actually looks like. Love this podcast? Support KUOW Public Radio and BTSW by donating here: https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus (https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus)

BTSW has shared quitting as a viable tactic on previous episodes. If you can’t change your workplace, find a new one. Eula believes in this tactic– she's a prolific quitter. Jeannie doesn’t - she has literally never quit a job. So when is quitting a wise tactical choice? And what happens when you *DO* quit just to discover your new work reality is just a different kind of toxic? And honestly, if “quitting” is a viable tactic, why isn’t “just suck it up and deal with it” a viable tactic too? Liz Fong-Jones thought a lot about this when she quit her job at Google, and she shares her insights on how to quit strategically. Love this podcast? Support KUOW Public Radio and BTSW by donating here: https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus (https://kuow.org/donate/btsw?utm_source=shownotes&utm_campaign=btswbonus)

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This episode comes to BTSW from the podcast The Doubleshift a podcast about working moms, hosted by Katherine Goldstein. Nydia Sanchez runs one of Las Vegas' only overnight, 24-hour child care centers, serving 108 kids. Many of her clients are single moms who work in casinos, and as waitresses, nurses and dancers. We visit to find out how Nydia keeps her business affordable and serves a group of moms that many bosses, and politicians, and other daycare owners just don’t think about.

Hosts Jeannie Yandel and Eula Scott Bynoe are dedicated to fighting workplace sexism, but they are also pop culture nerds who see parallels in the shows they love to to the struggles they experience in the workplace. So on this very special episode, Jeannie and Eula recap the latest episode of Game of Thrones, season 8 episode 4 and analyze the sexist workplaces of Westeros with pop culture writer Melanie McFarland. Spoilers galore, listen only if you’re caught up!

BTSW hosts Jeannie Yandel and Eula Scott Bynoe are guests on this episode of Unladylike. Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin talk to author and parenting podcaster Hillary Frank about her skirmish with the "special misogyny" that transformed her career. Then, the co-hosts of Battle Tactics for Your Sexist Workplace take on jobby questions from Unladylike listeners.

The holidays are definitely over and we’re all definitely back at work. So Eula and Jeannie talk about their own work resolutions and how the ‘Surviving R. Kelly’ docu-series has caused each of them to think differently about what workplace sexism can look like.

What does a sci-fi thriller from the ‘80s teach us about workplace sexism? What’s surprising about how Mad Men took on workplace sexism from the ‘60s? How do we deal with films we once loved that have taken on a new meaning in the #MeToo era? Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel dive into sexism and power in some of our favorite films and shows with Melanie McFarland, TV critic for Salon.

If you talked to Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) even three years ago, she would have defended the rights of trolls to say whatever to whomever. But that was before the 2016 election. That was when Taylor started seeing a change online - trolls were becoming much more hateful and violent, and they seemed to multiply exponentially. One reason Taylor saw that change? Many of those trolls came after her. Taylor explains why, even though the Internet just seems to be getting worse, she still believes it can be a magical, safe place for everybody.

For the last four years, two things have happened to novelist Celeste Ng (@pronounced_ing) while using social media. She's gained more and more followers, and online harassers have repeatedly targeted her. She says the constant harassment feels like being in the middle of a storm with no shelter. The trolls target her son, too. Ng tells BTSW why, despite withstanding years of racist, misogynistic trolling, she still tries to respond to trolls with empathy...even while wishing she could respond with gentle electric shocks and looping in the trolls' moms.

Did you know the character The Incredible Hulk was inspired by a woman? A mom who lifted the back of a car off her small child? Turns out it was a smart move to turn the Hulk's alter ego into a white dude - research shows white men actually see their statuses rise at work for showing emotion. The opposite happens for women, though. Hosts Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel delve into why not even Serena Williams can safely show anger on the job, and we'll share a boatload of tactics to undo this double standard. Guests: Anne Kreamer and Cheryl Ingram

Office housework is the undervalued, cleanup work that isn’t officially part of the job. According to scholars who study office housework, women are socialized and pressured to do it. Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel explore the various types of housework, how it can harm your career and strategies to avoid it. Guest: Joan C. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Hastings

Sarah Schacht wanted to make a career out of using the internet to make democracy stronger. She joined the Howard Dean presidential campaign in an effort to do that. During Sarah’s time there, something happened that would follow her for the next 15 years. Now she’s trying to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to anybody else.

The challenges of pumping breast milk at work, juggling work life and home life and the absurd cost of childcare all tell us one thing: it’s really hard to be a working mom in the United States. Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel explore this problem and how employers can see motherhood as a value in the workplace. Guests: Brigid Schulte and Angela Garbes

Workplace sexism manifests itself in all sorts of tricky situations. So this week, hosts Eula Scott Bynoe and Jeannie Yandel answer your questions with the help of Keita Williams, the Founder and Chief Strategist of Success Bully. They tackle everything from how to craft an inclusive dress code to the politics of taking sick days.