Here’s what happened co-workers switched genders for a week
Despite many companies taking strides towards gender equality, the fact of the matter is that women are still experiencing huge push-backs in the work place.
From unjustified pay discrepancies to disrespectful colleagues, female workers often need to go above and beyond in order to receive the same recognition as their male peers.
Last week, Martin Schneider, a writer and editor at an entertainment publication, took to Twitter to share the challenges he faced after a technical glitch meant that his emails were accidentally signed off with the name of his female co-worker, Nicole Hallberg.
Giving his followers a little background, he explained how his boss was always complaining about how long Nicole took to work with clients.
So here's a little story of the time @nickyknacks taught me how impossible it is for professional women to get the respect they deserve:
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Nicole and I worked for a small employment service firm and one complaint always came from our boss: She took too long to work with clients.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
(This boss was an efficiency-fetishizing gig economy-loving douchebag but that's another story.)
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
As her supervisor, it was Martin's responsibility to encourage his colleague to work at a faster pace – though he admits he didn't see it as a huge issue, and was only doing it to keep his boss happy.
As her supervisor, I considered this a minor nuisance at best. I figured the reason I got things done faster was from having more experience
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
But I got stuck monitoring her time and nagging her on the boss' behalf. We both hated it and she tried so hard to speed up with good work.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Now, here's where the story gets really interesting.
After a string of rude and uncooperative replies from a certain client, Martin realised the problem – all his correspondence had been signed off using the the name “Nicole”.
So one day I'm emailing a client back-and-forth about his resume and he is just being IMPOSSIBLE. Rude, dismissive, ignoring my questions.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Telling me his methods were the industry standards (they weren't) and I couldn't understand the terms he used (I could).
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
He was entertainment industry too. An industry I know pretty well.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Anyway I was getting sick of his shit when I noticed something.
Thanks to our shared inbox, I'd been signing all communications as "Nicole"— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
No prizes for guessing what happened next.
After informing the client that he had taken over the project, Martin saw a huge improvement in communication.
It was Nicole he was being rude to, not me. So out of curiosity I said "Hey this is Martin, I'm taking over this project for Nicole."
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENT. Positive reception, thanking me for suggestions, responds promptly, saying "great questions!" Became a model client.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
IMMEDIATE IMPROVEMENT. Positive reception, thanking me for suggestions, responds promptly, saying "great questions!" Became a model client.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Curious as to whether this was a regular occurrence, Martin asked Nicole if she experienced this kind of behaviour a lot.
The pair then decide to conduct a two-week experiment, during which time they would sign their emails using each others names.
So I asked Nicole if this happened all the time. Her response: "I mean, not ALL the time… but yeah. A lot."
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
We did an experiment: For two weeks we switched names. I signed all client emails as Nicole. She signed as me.
Folks. It fucking sucked.— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
I was in hell. Everything I asked or suggested was questioned. Clients I could do in my sleep were condescending. One asked if I was single.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Nicole had the most productive week of her career.
I realized the reason she took longer is bc she had to convince clients to respect her.— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
By the time she could get clients to accept that she knew what she was doing, I could get halfway through another client.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
I wasn't any better at the job than she was, I just had this invisible advantage.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Martin decided to bring this blatant example of gender bias to the attention of his boss – but as expected, he was having none of it.
He conceded that battle, but found ways to hound us both on time in other manners, but again, that's a different story.
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
(I mean, she knew she was being treated different for being a woman, she's not dumb. She just took it in stride.)
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
Anyway, I'm bad at knowing when to end Twitter threads, but. Yeah. Fucked up, right?
— Martin R. Schneider (@SchneidRemarks) March 9, 2017
The thread garnered huge attention online, with many Twitter users sharing the story in an attempt to highlight the kins of sexism that women are forced to deal with on a daily basis.
