Recently, we shared a list of ways people thought work environments could be improved to better accommodate the needs of women — a group that tends to be overlooked in today's patriarchal society. Here are some more notes and suggestions people made in the comments:
1. "Don't punish or retaliate against women with children who have to take time off when said children are sick or ill. If they have the days to take, let them take the damn days without a fucking inquisition!"
2. "I was hired at a previous job at the same time as two other people. All of us had the same job title. Two of us were 20–30-something-year-old females with appropriate degrees and a lot of prior experience, and then there was one male in his fifties with no experience at all. Guess who got paid $15K more than the other two? Equal pay is everything."
3. "I work in administration, and I have a female boss who treats me like a secretary, or her own PA, and I hate it. A couple years back she made me do the office Christmas tree. She didn’t ask if I wanted to do it — just told me to as though it were expected of me. Women need to stick together in the workplace — not take advantage of each other."
4. "STOP putting sanitary bins in the exact perfect spot to bang your elbow on when you sit down on the toilet!! I swear they are deliberately installed to be in maximum elbow range!!
5. "The bathrooms at my company supply free hairspray, lotion, sanitizer, lint removers, and tampons/pads. There is a dress code, but it applies to both sexes equally. We don't get 'sick days,' but we do get three weeks of vacation time when we start (basically, the five 'sick days' you'd get at a regular company are part of your vacation time, so you can take them whenever and however you want)."
6. "I'd love to work for a company that actively hires and promotes women to positions of power. I'm sick of watching my fellow female colleagues be forced to leave a company if they want to move up. Yes, we do pay attention to this."
7. "I work as a veterinarian, and ALL my bosses always 'suggest' that we wear heels and makeup in consults. I work as a nightshift vet. I know they think it makes us look more 'professional,' but it is HIGHLY impractical to wear heels and deal with emergencies that sometimes require you to literally run and be fast. They compare heels to men's formal shoes and shirts. C'mon."
8. "How about stopping the wife hate. There’s this bizarre culture of men in the workplace that relentlessly talk shit about their wives. They feed off of each other’s apparent woes, trying to one up each other with 'and then she made me do this!' when we all know they are happy at home. Just shut up, Alan."
9. "I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a woman’s husband’s job/income be referenced when considering her compensation or promotion. 'Well her husband makes a lot,' or, 'Her husband has a good job, and I think she just wants to take it easy and isn’t trying to climb the ladder...'"
10. "This is a small thing but was very appreciated when I worked at a woman-led business. Every job I had before working there (that required name tags) had the tags with pins. At this business, all the name tags had the magnetic back instead, so you didn’t have to poke pin holes in your clothes..."
"...Not saying that guys don’t care about that, but it’s more of an issue for women’s businesswear than it is for men’s (who’d typically put the name tag on a shirt pocket)."
11. "I work in STEM, and I am the only woman on my team of 20. When a birthday happens, everyone automatically comes to me to see what we’re doing. I've asked them why they come to me. Reluctantly, they admitted because I’m the lone female. I’ve told them that I'm happy to do it but don’t just assume that every woman will be."
12. And finally, "Men! Share your fucking salaries. We know we’re underpaid, but help us prove it. Stop interrupting us, AND call out the men who do (publicly and privately). If you see something say something. If you see a guy creeping on a girl or making inappropriate jokes, tell her what you heard/saw and ask how she wants to proceed. Advocate for her to HR..."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.