Recently, we asked women of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the infuriatingly sexist things they were told or asked at work.
We also rounded up horrible comments customers specifically have made, which brought a bunch of y'all to the comments to share your own experiences.
Here are some of the most offensive things customers and clients have said to female employees.
1. "My first job was at a donut/sandwich shop called Tasty’s. Our work uniform had the phrase, 'Try me, I’m tasty!' printed across the chest. Obviously, that led to a lot of middle-aged men thinking it was acceptable to ask me, a teenager at the time, if they could try me out or asking if I had a hole that needed to be crème filled."
"It was so bad I started wearing plain t-shirts to work instead of the uniform if I knew the owners weren’t going to be around."
—Krys
2. "[I] worked for a telecommunications company about eight years ago running a campaign about 'Epic Entertainment.' We had to wear t-shirts advertising the promotion. The 'epic' part went straight across my voluptuous chest. The amount of 'Oh, they're epic alright!' that I got while working that promotion was ridiculous. My manager didn't say a thing."
3. "I used to work at a bank in a gross part of town, and I often had men make lewd comments. One of the worst, that has stuck with me for years, is this one from a regular customer. He was old enough to be my father, and just disgusting overall. He came in once and asked me first if I was married. I said no, because at that time I wasn’t. He then asked if I had any kids. I also said no (still don’t, and don’t want any). Then he stated, 'Well, do you want any? I can help you with that. All you have to do is lay down,' followed by a burst of laughter."
"I didn’t know how to respond so I just stood there shocked and disgusted. One of the most vile things I’ve had a customer say to me."
4. "I worked at a restaurant when I was about 15. The uniform was a short skirt but not short enough that my conservative parents were unhappy with. I had a vicar and his wife in my section. He told me I was going to hell for tempting men with my short skirt. I told him if a man was tempted by a girl under the age of consent, then he was the one with the problem."
"Well, he seemed to turn every shade of red and starts berating me. Luckily, in the UK in the '90s, it was generally accepted that customers were not gods and rude behaviour was not tolerated. It was awesome watching my manager kick his ass out the door and banning him. The best part was, the restaurant was across the road from the church!"
5. "I am a bank teller, and the worst one so far came from a misogynistic, anti-mask male member. 'You should smile more, maybe then you would be more pleasant to me. Then again, you probably are, but I can't see it because of that stupid mask.' Made me gag. And followed by a sexual innuendo about how big his remaining 'balance' was."
"He wanted me to agree that his balance was big. And then he had the audacity to threaten me by speaking to my boss after I ignored him."
—Anonymous
6. "‘She’s too bossy.’ I was the photoshoot director."
—Anonymous
7. "Man in waiting room: You're the doctor? Me: Yes, I'm Dr. (name). Man: Oh! I was expecting you to be a man."
—Anonymous
8. "I was told, 'Oh I didn't know women could be pharmacists', when a customer asked to speak to the pharmacist and I said it was me..."
—Anonymous
9. "I am the publicist at a publishing company and have an androgynous first name. A journalist called my direct line to ask for a review copy of an upcoming book. When I told him I could help him he said, 'Not you, sweetheart, I'd like to talk to your boss Mr. My-Last-Name.' Needless to say, I did not send him a review copy of the book he requested."
—Anonymous
10. "An elderly male customer once said something about how he needed an excuse to get out of housework, and trying to make polite small talk I said, 'Oh yeah, I hate housework too, haha.' He asked me if I was married, and I said no, and then he said, 'Well, maybe that's why.' Then went on to tell me about how he always told his daughters they needed to learn to cook and clean well so they could find a husband when they grew up."
11. "It wasn’t me but a friend’s mum’s friend was told by their customer that, ‘Maybe if she didn’t look so upset all the the time she might finally get a husband.’ He then asked her out for coffee."
12. "I was working in the mobile department at an electronics store. ... I was told I could be a pretty girl if I didn't have so many tattoos and wasn't so fat. People can be really awful."
13. "I had a woman tell me I’d look better if I wore makeup, while ‘subtly’ discussing acne treatment. I couldn’t believe it. Messed me up for weeks."
14. "I've worked at several Michelin starred restaurants in France. ... A client told me I was pretty ugly but less ugly when I smiled. This was 15 minutes after asking me out and me turning him down. ... [Also,] I get a lot of xenophobic and sexist comments about how an American woman couldn't possibly be a sommelier and shouldn't be working wherever I'm working."
"About once every four months, there's some nasty review about it on TripAdvisor and my poor restaurant has to respond. The worst part is that I work with two other male foreigners and they never get treated the way I do."
15. "I used to work overnights at a hotel, alone (back when I identified as female). I wore a fake wedding ring set, but that never stopped men from being creepy. The worst one was this older guy who made some remark that he couldn't believe my husband let me work overnights. He asked if we had kids and I said no. He said that my husband wasn't doing his job! (Like I'm supposed to be a brood mare?? Disgusting.)"
"I started fake crying, 'forced' a smile, and said, 'Maybe after the chemo. One thing at a time, right?' I don't remember or care what his response was except that the conversation was effectively finished. I feel bad for lying about cancer, but I hope he learned his lesson to mind his own business."
16. "I was in my early 20s, 5'2" weighing around 105 lbs. ... This creepy guy told me he 'could pick me up like a bowling ball' I still cringe and want to puke at the thought of it."
—Anonymous
17. "I had a perverted man who was a regular. Once, he asked for a pack of his usual cigarettes. I got them for him. Then he said, 'Actually, can I have another pack of them?' Okay, sure. Then he asked a third time. I said 'stocking up for a few days?' ... He smiles and goes, 'Honestly? I love when you turn around to reach for things. I get to see your butt shape ('butt shape'?!!) and sometimes a slip of your back with that tattoo.' It made me want to scream and slap him. So gross."
18. "A 30-year-old man who was a loud and proud virgin decided to explain to me, a pansexual woman, that lesbians decide who is 'the man' before they have sex. Yes, he was wearing a Dragon Ball Z shirt at the time, why do you ask?"
19. "I was 19 and working retail and I had an older man who didn’t want me to process his refund because I wasn’t my supervisor. ... He eventually let me process the refund and I started to gift wrap his purchase and he says, 'So what do you do, outside of this?' and I go, 'Oh well I’m at uni, and I’m studying French, Japanese and linguistics' and his mouth drops and he says, 'but those are smart subjects!'"
"I couldn’t do anything other than smile and politely agree."
20. "While working in restaurants, I have had multiple male customers tell me it must be my 'time of month' because I wasn't smiling all the damn time."
21. "I’ve had men try to get me out of line when doing bank drops for work. They insist that the commercial line is the wrong line for me. I’ve also come when someone asked to speak to a manager and been told, 'No, I meant I want a man.'”
22. "I am a woman working in the automotive industry which is by tradition a highly, male populated environment, especially in the southeastern United States. I am a service advisor/service writer (who you see at the dealership when you need work done on your vehicle or when you are experiencing issues with it), and I am considered one of their senior consultants. I’ve been doing this job for 10 years now. I cannot tell you how many times I have been told a) I need to speak with a MAN or b) been told I do not know what I am talking about, when in fact I know more than most of the men that I work with."
23. "I worked in an outdoor store and a customer asked me something about camping stuff. I answered his questions correctly and explained a little more. He wasn't satisfied with the answer, so I called for a male coworker, who said exactly the same thing as I did and this time, the man believed him. Like dude, I told you literally the same thing, but you need to hear it from a man to believe it?"
24. "My work placed an order and the package was delivered to a completely wrong address so I had to call the entire city to figure out where it was. At some point I tried calling this one guy, who starts asking me a bunch of questions about the package (where from, what size etc) and ends up saying, 'Well, my questions are actually pointless because no package was delivered anyway so I should have started by saying that, but I didn't want to miss foreplay with such a lovely voice.'"
"I hung up on the spot. What on earth is wrong with this guy?"
—Anonymous
And finally, let's end on three stories where it wasn't necessarily what male customers said to female employees that was bad, but what they did, just to show that it's not just customer's words that are hurtful and creepy.
25. "I had a gross old man yell at me for ten minutes straight because I wouldn’t help him button his pants, and then he tried to follow me into the back office when I tried to get away from him."
"My five foot tall coworker turned out to be a secret badass and literally barricaded the door and yelled at him until he left."
26. "I worked in a department store at Christmas and there were loads of Santa hats behind the till for us to wear. I picked one up and it had a little bit of mistletoe on the end, but thought nothing of it. I served a customer his perfume and with literally zero warning, he leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek."
"I never ever wore that hat again."
27. "I was cocktail waitressing at a high-end cocktail bar when a regular came up behind me as I was talking to a table and smacked my ass so hard I practically fell into the lap of the couple in front of me. We were all shocked. I went up to the guy, who was clearly drunk even though he just got there, and told him he needed to leave."
"The next day the guy comes in with a huge bouquet of flowers and an apology card. I refused the flowers and said I would appreciate if he just didn’t speak to me when he was there anymore. I really should have filed with HR and had him banned, but I didn’t think management would support me."
What's the worst thing a male customer or client did or said to you? Let us know in the comments below.
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.