

Just don't do it - hyperpape
https://debuk.wordpress.com/2015/07/05/just-dont-do-it/

======
heygiraffe
This article is absurd.

> No one writes articles telling men how they’re damaging their career
> prospects by using the wrong words.

Be real. There are whole books devoted to this topic. And there are whole
sections in bookstores devoted to such books. There are magazines that have
been talking about these things in every single issue for decades.

"How to change your behavior to get ahead in business" is an enormous
business. And historically it has catered mostly to men. It tells them how to
dress, who to meet, how to talk, etc., etc.

Maybe the author needs to read a few business books?

~~~
hyperpape
This seems guilty of a willful misreading. It's true that there are business
books that tell men they are doing _x_ wrong. But the comparison is _with
other men_ who are doing it right. Whereas the type of article this piece
highlights is telling women that they are doing it wrong _by not being like
men_.

------
tzs
> Even in the 1990s the flaw in this reasoning was obvious. Men’s greater
> success in the workplace is largely a product of their privileged status as
> men: just imitating their behaviour won’t give women their status. Yet here
> we are in the second decade of the 21st century, recycling the same old
> advice.

Imitating their behavior won't give women their status, but _not_ imitating
their behavior might prevent women from obtaining that status.

Applying the obligatory car analogy, to drive somewhere you have to both
release the brake _and_ press the accelerator. Adopting speech patterns of the
group you wish to join goes toward releasing the brake.

~~~
hyperpape
You're right that this is a possibility, and it's probably true in some cases.
But there's also research that shows that women in the workplace often act
less aggressive than men because they have a justified belief that if they
didn't, they'd be viewed negatively and it would work out to their
disadvantage.

