I recently looked up the company online and found out that his loser son had taken over ownership and run the company into the ground. I smiled." —Anonymous, Oregon, 37 I then checked up on my female team member, who didn’t think twice about lifting that microwave. After, I went on with my day, questioning my career choice. While I understood that I was a young professional, I never questioned my leadership skills." —Anonymous, New Jersey, 27 I finished up my work there for the summer (unenthusiastically) and then got the hell out. It wasn’t until many years later that I managed to be properly upset about the ‘pretty’ part of his comment, too. At the time, 19-year-old me still thought that was a compliment. Now, 29-year-old me knows better, and I hope to be able to respond appropriately if it were to happen to me or to any of my female coworkers again." —Anonymous, Norway, 29 It was horrifying, embarrassing, and degrading, but I hadn’t learned to find my voice and didn’t know what I didn’t have to take yet. The music industry ended up being a brutal industry to be in as a woman. I could be standing behind a mixing board in a venue with my hands on the knobs, and a band’s tech would ask me where our sound guy was. During introductions with new bands or agents, I was almost always asked whose girlfriend I was (I couldn’t possibly be in the room as a professional!). I was also consistently told to not entice my male cohorts by being so sexy if I wanted to be respected and taken seriously — but also was told to be as sexy as possible for shows and events. Ultimately, I got the internship and established a lifelong relationship with everyone I worked with, and that manager went on to mentor me for years. Unfortunately, I don’t see a whole lot of progress in the music industry, even today." —Anonymous, Virginia, 42
