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The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/MissLovebird on 2023-09-18 20:21:59.
Hi everyone,
I (24 F) started to work as a teacher in a middle and high school two weeks ago. Everything was okay and I was going along with everyone. But last week, as I was working in the teacher’s room, one of them (a man) came in and sat in front of a computer. We heard him grumbled as he was struggling to turn on the computer. Someone jokingly asked “What’s the matter this time ? Are you going to blame the machine once more ?”
And then, out of nowhere the man said : “Machines can be such difficult bitches, no wonder they’re feminine nouns.”
Now, I don’t know if I’m making this clear. I tried to translate his comment. There are feminine and masculine nouns in english, right ? Like actor and actress. In France, une machine (a device) is a feminine noun. He just compared computers to women, on the fact that they’re both “difficult bitches”, that do not obey to his demands.
I was a bit shocked to hear this, I turned around to look at him. The other teachers vaguely giggled, but more like to be polite, it definitely wasn’t heartfelt laughter. He said to me :
“Hey I’m joking.”
I just nodded and went back to my work. He kept talking :
“I was joking, this is irony. Hey, I was just kidding. Can someone tell MissLovebird that I didn’t mean it ? I’m always saying crude things.”
After a while he finally shut up. Now it’s awkward whenever we’re in the same room, he glances at me.
Should I have laughed ? It makes me so ill-at-ease when people who work close to teens or children seem to have no filter. I know for a fact that it’s super easy during class to go off-topic. What if he says things like that with the kids ? And what about us, his women coworkers ? Was his comment even a real joke ?
I don’t find it funny at all, it’s insulting to me. Sexism seems to be deep in the brain of so many teachers, yet, they are teaching easily influenced girls and boys. They are shaping their perceptions of what it means to be a man and a woman.
So, what do you think ?