It’s not April 1st, so we assume this must be real:
Chartered Management Institute head Ann Francke said sports banter can exclude women and lead to laddish behaviour such as chat about sexual conquests.
“A lot of women, in particular, feel left out,” she told the BBC’s Today programme.
“They don’t follow those sports and they don’t like either being forced to talk about them or not being included.”
“I have nothing against sports enthusiasts or cricket fans – that’s great,” she said.
“But the issue is many people aren’t cricket fans,” she added, arguing bosses should crack down on sports banter.
Be sure to read the comments at the bottom of the article. They’re brilliant! More here.
A lot of us don’t follow intersectional feminist theory. We don’t don’t like either being force to talk about it or not being included. So can we get that excluded too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5gVhaum2s0
Tangentially related, in a ‘Logan’s Run’, ‘THX 1138’, dystopian utopia just around the corner kind of way. But damn. That was just so. Dark.
The subjects women gas on about in the workplace when they are supposed to be doing something constructive include such female-only topics as:
1. Problems with their plumbing
2. Their spoiled brats
3. Their cats and dogs
4. How their husbands and boyfriends don’t respect them
5. How President Trump allegedly hates women
Men are expected to keep quiet, get on with doing the women are supposed to be doing on top of their own jobs, and not try to “mansplain” anything to their betters—i.e. disrupt womanish delight in talking nonsense with allusions to facts and reality.
I bet she doesn’t think women in the office should shut up about their cats. (I don’t but what if some of the lads feel “excluded”?) I am deeply uninterested in sports so I don’t mind people talking endlessly about them as long as they do leave me out of it.
“They don’t follow those sports and they don’t like either being forced to talk about them or not being included.”
So, you’re supposed to be offended either way, talking about the subject, and not talking about the subject, at the same time……..
They want you to just be offended, period.
I’m reminded of what Socrates apparently said: “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
While I worked for other people, I generally didn’t socialize with my colleagues, even during lunch, because I found their conversations insufferably boring. It didn’t matter what they nattered on about, whether it was about their idiot brats, sports, the latest celebrity scandal, or the ending of a certain TV series. My thought was “Who the %*&^ cares?”
As Reminder That opined…
Ok then, I will stop the football talk if you stop yakking about…
Pets
Kids
Daycare
Husbands
Pay equity
Hair
Shopping at lunch in a time crunch but look what I got at Winners
Hair
Shoes
Mental health day
Flexible work week so I can drive to daycare and have time left to get my hair done
Asshole male boss who despite accommodating my needs is an asshole
Hair
Stinky fish in the microwave in the lunchroom and who cleans the fucking fridge
Hair
Bathroom time to redo makeup
Et fooking cetera
Go chiefs Go
I find sports chat uninteresting and, at my age, laddish behavior is to be encouraged rather than deplored.
The rare times in my life I have worked in an office I was astonished at how much time was spent “at work” rather than working. The great advantage of self-employment and working from home is that you do the work and you don’t have to pretend to be working the other five hours. You can look for new clients, walk the pup, read a book – but there is no obligation to “look busy”. Or talk about sports or be matey or feign interest in cats, kids or ailments to fill in the time.
The concerns of women are like the chatter of magpies.
Afghan warrior
Women talk hockey more than men in my world.
If that did lead to them talking about their ‘sexual conquests’ , that would be interesting, but it’s far more boring than that, it’s just hockey stuff.
Self censorship is already rampant in our culture, but of course the media has to promote it even more, don’t want you getting out of line!
Best comment: “Men find joy in something. Women most affected.”
I hate sitting in a living room, a lounge or a waiting room with a bunch of people who talk about things I don’t understand or I’m not interested in. On the other hand, if they talk about things that interest or excite me, I feel comfortable. This always reminds me of a bunch of us who were sitting in a beer parlour as they were known in the 60’s. It was during the spring thaw when the oil rigs all shit down. A tall lanky fellow walked in the bar and sat down. He was wearing Red Wing work boots, made in Red Wing Minnesota. (Now made in China.) We all start talking about our boots, and how much we paid for them, and how we liked our boots, and what we did to keep them looking good. After an hour of non-stop boot talk, the bartender, a cantankerous old Frenchman yells out, ”For Christ’s sake you guys, how long are you going to talk about them fucking boots!”
I had never realized how boring people can get after a few too many. Perhaps Anne Francke needs to find a new place to hang out. How about the barber shop??
then women should not be allowed to talk about the tv show ” sex and the city” or talk about their period or stiletos shoes on sale
“But the issue is many people aren’t cricket fans”
I am a fan of most sports, for some if only casually. But I have no interest in cricket, and cannot name you one single cricket player.
Of course, I have never ever walk into a cricket conversation. If I were to, it might be fun to learn why someone can be interested in it.
OTOH, I would have no interest at all in conversations about, say, current pop stars and their lives, or the latest fashion. Should the bosses crack down on those banters?
P.S. I can’t remember ever having a serious conversation on a game just played devolve into a brag session on sexual conquests.
“That sure as heck wasn’t offside. You can’t score a goal with your hand.”
“Yeah, you ought to see how I scored with my hand with the girl I was with yesterday.”
Anyone who would say that would be considered such a boor as to be excluded from future serious sports discussion.
Of course, it could just be I am so old I can’t remember.
WTF? I don’t want to watch feminine hygiene adverts on TV, but there they are.
Apparently male likes/dislikes aren’t relevant.
In the past one could speak about the weather but since it became a discussion of the approaching apocalypse the subject is too hot to handle.
So, Comrade, we have approved your request for drop down menus of safe bromides to speak at work. If you deviate from the selected menu items you will be punished. Stay safe Comrade!
/s