As the old aphorism reminds us you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar and that is what I suspect Isobel Redmond is on about with her suggestion “young women facing sex discrimination at work (should) ignore it and it will “just disappear”. ”
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I think that Isobel’s suggestion has merit for all kinds of discrimination to some extent. Of course having the ability to make complaints is important if persuasion of the Redmond model fails to work but essentially what Isobel is saying is so damn sensible that it amazes me that no one has suggested it earlier. Lets face it, in the workplace if you raise the level of conflict by making a complaint (that you may win) there is every chance that you will face greater resentment, but if you manage to convince the discriminators that their discrimination is based upon faulty notions by demonstrating your (unexpected by them) competence you will not only succeed in your career goal but also you may just have permanently changed attitudes as well. Which sounds like a win win situation to me.
Cheers Comrades
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 