Q: My creative department is a major boys' club, and always has been. I'm a female junior creative. How do I balance sticking up for what I believe in by calling someone out on public behavior that offends me (and the other handful of women in the department), with the knowledge that doing so will get me labeled as a humorless bitch and may hurt my career?
If you’re cringing at something someone says chances are the other guys in the department are too. I think you need to say something if it’s really bad. People will be relieved that you did. Usually it’s a one bad apple kind of thing. I’ve worked in departments where I was the only female and I always found common ground with my male colleagues. Things like passion for doing great work and the bitterness that comes from not being able to sell it can bond a group beyond gender, age or sexual bias. And besides most assholes are hacks so who cares what they say.
- Lara Palmer
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