Toxic Femininity in the Workplace: Office Gender Politics Are a Battlefield

By Ginny Hogan

If there’s one thing we can agree on in a post-Trump America, it’s that sexism exists. While there are myriad books on female friendship in the marketplace, Toxic Femininity is the first book on the special relationship between female coworkers and gender dynamics in the workplace to hit the market in a comedic gifty way.

Talented humorist Ginny Hogan explores themes of sexism, workplace gender dynamics, and the challenges facing women at work (particularly in STEM fields) with disarming wit. Toxic Femininity includes fun short pieces (such as, “I'm Not A Sexist; I Also Ask My Male Colleagues If They’re Menstruating” and “How Silicon Valley Created The Perfect Meritocracy If You Specifically Happen To Be A Young, Straight, Well-Educated White Man”), true-false and multiple choice quizzes (including: “Are You Too Aggressive, or "Are You Politely Stating Your Opinion?” and Are You a True Feminist, a Male Feminist, a Feminist Just to Get Laid, or a Loaf of Bread?”),  and even some surrealist essays (such as “A Woman From The Year 3018 Visits a Tech Startup” and  “The Noise-Canceling Headphone’s Lament”). Toxic Femininity is a book that can be enjoyed in little sips or in one long drink.

The variety of the pieces and the illustrations make a lovely and gifty package—this product is perfect for a mentor encouraging her mentees, a big sister preparing her little sister for the work place, or shoring up your best friend after a rough day.

A conversation piece as much as a gift, the humorous nature of the work makes it possible to face topics that can be difficult to tackle head on; and we hope that this book will be able to serve not just as a gift but as a jumping off point for those hard-to have conversations that are a part of every work place environment.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Sep 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9780062881243

Book preview

Yes, I’m Using Dating Apps, and 20 Other Answers to Questions My Coworkers Shouldn’t Ask Me

No, I’m not sick today. I just didn’t have time to put makeup on.

Yes, I’m tired. But I’m tired every day—you’re just only noticing it today because I’m not wearing concealer.

No, I don’t want to go to a strip club with you.

Yes, I watch TV shows other than The Bachelor. And you know what? Liking The Bachelor is fine, OK? It has nothing to do with my job performance! Maybe I just want to understand love!

No comment on Margot Robbie.

No, I would not like to beta test your new tampon-delivery service. Also, please don’t ask me about it on the elevator headed to the thirtieth floor. Also, founding a new company while you’re working at this company violates your contract, FYI.

No, I won’t plan our team’s offsite. I planned the last one.

Yes, I received the flowers you sent to my hotel room.

Yes, I’m still married.

No, I don’t want to diagnose your back fungus.

No, I’m not thinking about having kids in the next two years.

Yes, I plan to keep working once I have kids.

No, I don’t think it’s impossible to be a good mother and have a successful career.

Yes, I am on birth control.

Yes, I bought this at Victoria’s Secret.

No, I don’t think Infinite Jest is the most brilliant book ever written. It was good, but a little long.

No, I don’t want to hear your opinion.

No, thank you.

No.

Ew, no.

Perks Tech Start-Ups Added to Recruit More Women

Manicure station on first Fridays.

A discounted stylist.

Free birth control.

Access to a small number of cute single men.

Access to a large number of single men.

Egg-freezing. You can always have kids later!

Free dry cleaning.

Complementary therapist to ask if you really think right now is a good time to have children. And if you say yes, she (it’ll be a woman, obviously) will ask again, but this time more slowly.

A salad bar exactly once a month.

Free in-house adoption agency. Why not? We can put those kids to work—there’s a lot of data that can’t be cleaned programmatically.

Perks Tech Start-ups Forgot to Add to Recruit More Women

Parental leave.

Equal pay.

An Unconscious Bias Training to Teach Men to Not Touch Their Female Coworkers

Hi, thanks for coming to my training today. Here, we’re going to teach you all about unconscious biases, specifically those that cause you to touch your female coworkers.

Everyone has unconscious biases. They’re what make us associate engineering words like build and bridge with men and liberal-arts words like book and emotions with women. We don’t have much control over which unconscious biases we have—they were given to us by society, and, according to my therapist and mother, we’re pretty much stuck with them. But what we do have control over is how we respond to them. We need to be made aware of our unconscious biases so we can stop them from affecting our lives.

For many of you, when you see a woman, you probably have the urge to touch her. This is, in fact, an unconscious bias. You’re biased to believe that touching a woman will make your and her lives better, but I’m here to tell you today—it will not. In fact, you will probably get in trouble with the HR department, fired, and then blacklisted from the tech industry. Probably. I don’t make the rules. Bad things will happen to her too, but who’s paying attention?

Of course, if there’s anything I want this training to impart on you, men, it’s that it’s not your fault that you want to touch women. It’s society’s fault. So if you’ve accidentally grabbed your boss’s ass, don’t beat yourself up over it! But do be aware of the unconscious biases you have, and do your best to work around them. Even if you fail, I can probably get you off the hook if you at least try. Next up in your schedule is my other training, an Unconscious Bias Training to Teach Men to Treat Their Female Coworkers Like People.

The Sexism Conspiracy

Matt sat down at his desk, disgruntled. He’d been called out in a meeting for speaking over a woman. But you know what—she wasn’t speaking that loudly, so how could it be his fault? Besides, he knew for a fact that he was paid as much as the woman, so his opinion was just as valid—she was only, like, a few years more experienced, a decade tops. Sometimes, and he felt guilty for thinking this, but sometimes, only sometimes, he really thought maybe women just made sexism up.

Susan swiveled around in her chair, watching Matt’s brain waves through her monitor. Goddamnit,