Are Women Ruining The Workplace? 

Question of the Day: Is it women who ruin the workplace, or are they enhancing it? I’m asking that question seriously and would love to hear your thoughts.

This topic is from my show’s opening monologue today isn’t even meant to be a controversial topic.

My husband and me were discussing the pros and cons for sending our son to an all-boys college. My husband attended one, and he believes it was a better environment for learning. There were no distractions for students regarding the more sexy aspects of school life.

When you keep the sexes separate then they’re able to focus on their work and academics. He said that this allows children to grow. This was an interesting argument.

Then, I said: “But what happens to those kids once they get into the real world? There are women in the workplace. Will we be seen as a distraction?”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that we are kind of a distraction.

If you think about what men have to deal with when they go to work now, it’s essentially filled with verbal and social landmines. There are inherent differences between men and women — including the way we speak and our humor — and they don’t always fit together nicely in an office setting. 

Let me be clear: I’m not arguing that women shouldn’t have the right and privilege to work, but should be allowed to stay at home. 

I’m not saying that whatsoever. 

But men are still under constant pressure to refrain from making innocuous comments at work that could be taken as a negative.

‘Do I say something, do I not say something? I have to be careful in how I speak to this person because she’She is a woman. Do I tell her that she looks beautiful today? Or is she going to think that’s inappropriate? Do you think it’s appropriate in today’s #MeToo era, particularly? Forget it. Do I have anything to say? Well, if I don’t say anything to her, well, she’s going to say that I’m ignoring her because I am a man.’

Unimaginable is the internal dialogue men must have at work every day. This new dynamic has also transformed the way that the office operates.

Numerous corporations now hold dry Christmas parties. It is possible that alcohol can cause major headaches for HR. If you supply alcohol and there are men and women having a good time — things could happen that make work awkward. Inebriated men or women may start flirting. Perhaps men will look around and say, “Oh, I always thought she was cute. She was kind of cool. Let me go talk to her.” 

But what happens if the woman isn’t happy? But what if she thinks that even saying hello in a wrong way is inappropriate?

Many businesses now believe it is reasonable to say, “Do what you do in your spare time, but at work, you have to keep it professional and that means no alcohol.”

Outside of the office, women can enrich men’s lives. For example, a bachelor pad or a man’s house is usually bland and lifeless. It comes to life when men and women are married.

But, it is obvious that workplace relationships are not the same. This leads to some eggshelling and tiptoeing for everyone.

During this discussion, I had the thought: “OK, well, what if you had a scenario where — similar to boys-only schools — only men are allowed to work in the office together? What would happen there?” 

We know that it works because we already knew about it.

Then, I thought, “What if women worked together?” How would this office look? It would be a disaster. It would lead to women killing each other. Think about “Mean Girls,” it’s taking a satirical stab at female culture. We attack each other all the time so we don’t flourish on our own — and that would be the same in an all-female workspace.

Then, curiously, I came across a Reddit post where a man shared how he got in trouble because he made some crass talk comparing his digestion issues to a female employee’s while the two were in the company’s gender-neutral bathroom. The female employee thought it was harassment, and in my opinion, it was a little weird — but I am not a man. 

This situation may be normal for a man. For whatever reason, men are more comfortable with these jokes and using the bathroom. Women usually find the bathroom disgusting and don’t like jokes about it.

Yet because offices now have to be woke — gender-neutral bathrooms are pushed on men and women. In turn, these differences can cause awkward clashes between men and woman that interrupt work.

This happens at Christmas parties, which are gender-neutral