Hidden in Plain Sight: Casual Sexism in the Modern Work

October 16, 2023

From misplaced wife jokes to casual remarks regarding a woman's look, the list runs long and gets more and more snide and complicated...Yet, this still remains to be the tip of the iceberg

An article titled, ‘Indian women are more employable than men’ published in The Economic Times, stated that the “percentage of employable women has gone up from 41.25% in 2021 to 53.28%. And, in 2023, it is expected to stay stable at 52.80%. In fact, the rate of employable women has been consistently higher than employable men.” (2)

But as the numbers grow, so does the glaring casual sexism that women begin to experience from their very first round of interviews at an organisation. This behaviour is just a sliver of the sexism that runs in the veins of our society. From misplaced wife jokes to casual remarks regarding a woman’s look, the list runs long and gets more and more snide and complicated.

From the very get-go, women are faced with certain questions which often take priority when they are being hired. Questions that indirectly implore their marital status, their willingness to start a family, or their ability to stay and work late often take precedence when hiring a female employee. Yet, this still remains to be the tip of the iceberg.

Once in the system, it is common for women to be paid lesser than their main counterparts. In an article published by The Indian Express, they stated that a recent survey on remuneration trends and index released by Mercer showed that the gender pay parity in February ’23 in India stood at 1.8 per cent. The report further stated that at the para-professional level, the gap is the smallest at 1.4 per cent, while at the executive level, the gap widens to 2.5 per cent (3). This means, if a male employee, at the executive level, is drawing Rs 50 lakh annually, a female employee, at the same level, gets Rs 48.75 lakh. (3)

While the difference seems small, it is one of the most glaring examples of casual sexism. Where a woman, who is working as well as her male counterpart cannot be compensated accordingly.

As the work environment turns into a cold place figuratively, casual sexism also makes the workplace cold literally. For people who have worked at even one organization know well enough the struggles of sitting in an AC room that constantly feels like the coldest part of the Arctic. While this seems too redundant and one could easily brush it off as a corporate trick to keep the employees awake, the temperature politics is rooted deeply in gender.

In fact, a study done in the US states that most research evidence on gender differences in thermal comfort goes on to suggest that overcooling is likely to affect women more than men. Yet the reasons behind this gender disparity have not been addressed directly. The typical explanations found in thermal comfort literature—lower metabolic rate or lighter clothing—inadvertently position women as the source of the problem rather than the thermal environments of offices (4).

Gender stereotypes like, women are not good bosses, and cannot make decisions or handle risks, hamper a women’s progress in the workplace. In addition to this archaic thought process, men often find working with women difficult as the women are either too bossy for them or too gullible.

Sexism, which still remains one of the major issues in India continues to trickle into the fabric of the corporate world, much like other institutes of our society. So much so that most of the time, organisations want to hire women just because they want to fix their skewed sex ratio and seem favourable to the outside world. While on the inside, the organisation festers with snide remarks about a woman being too chatty, or a new mom not looking like she just gave birth.

As the halls echo with the uproarious laughter over a forwarded wife joke that mockingly calls the wife too clingy or needy. Or the HR sends out a guideline to watch the length of our sleeves and dresses, we are transported back to our school corridors that were infamous for doing the same.

While most organisations have a zero-tolerance policy against any form of sexism, casual sexism often gets ignored under the garb of banter. This ignorant attitude also stems from our culture where this form of sexism is part of our dinner table conversations or social gatherings.

As all major organisations clamour to create a workforce that can mirror their consumers i.e build organisations with equal representation of men and women, organisations will have to work on creating more favourable surroundings and environments for women.

Colliers India has released a report “Designing Workplaces for Women” that put out suggestions to help encourage more women to join the workforce and also stay in it! A few suggestions made include the adoption of HR policies that nurture the career of female employees, designing offices that embrace diversity, offering child care support, and maintaining an optimum temperature (5).

As the world progresses more towards these shiny gleaming corporate jungles, women tend to be easier targets even today. While we arm ourselves with education, financial freedom, and independence of thought and enter the workforce as equals, we often run into moments where we are looked down upon based just on our gender. And even though our HR policies and the POSH compliance training try to shield us from the ills of society, we must also remember to stay confident and proud of what we stand for.

References

Shreya Raman, IndiaSpend.com. “Casual Sexism, ‘Wife Jokes’ and Discrimination: Why Women Struggle to Stay on in Indian Workforce.” Scroll.in. Scroll.in, October 21, 2022. https://scroll.in/article/1035320/casual-sexism-wife-jokes-and-discrimination-why-women-struggle-to-stay-on-in-indian-workforce.
“Indian Women Are More Employable than Men; Guess How Many Are in the Workforce!” The Economic Times. Accessed April 18, 2023. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/jobs/indian-women-are-more-employable-than-men-guess-how-many-are-in-the-workforce/articleshow/96596276.cms.
Raj, Anjaly. “Gender Pay Gap Decreasing but Still Far from Over.” The Indian Express, March 9, 2023. https://indianexpress.com/article/business/companies/gender-pay-gap-decreasing-but-still-far-from-over-8485538/.
Parkinson, T., Schiavon, S., de Dear, R., & Brager, G. (2021). Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03121-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-03121-1
“Corporates Should Adopt HR Policies to Nurture Career of Female Employees: Colliers India – Ethrworld.” ETHRWorld.com, March 9, 2023. https://hr.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/workplace-4-0/corporates-should-adopt-hr-policies-to-nurture-career-of-female-employees-colliers-india/98506272.

Ishita Parashar is a digital marketer by day and a closeted painter by night! After doing her graduation from Hindu College in English and her post grad from Xavier’s in Advertising and Marketing, she continues to strive for a balance between the corporate world and her artsy dreams.