Jess Bennett > Quotes

“Imposter syndrome” wasn’t coined as a term until the 1970s, but it’s safe to assume women have always felt it: that nagging feeling that, even after you’ve just done something great, maybe you actually don’t deserve the
praise.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Remember: white men constitute just 31 percent of the American population. There is no situation in which they should be constituting the majority of the room.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“The law cannot do it for us. We must do it for ourselves. Women in this country must become revolutionaries.” —Shirley Chisholm, the first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“long-ingrained attitudes don’t just evaporate in a generation.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“THE LESBIAN AVENGERS
Their motto playfully proclaimed “we recruit,” and recruit this group did. Formed in the 1990s to bring attention to lesbian causes, the Lesbian Avengers spent Valentine’s Day handing out chocolate kisses in Grand Central Station that read, “You’ve just been kissed by a lesbian.” In Bryant Park, they unveiled a papier-mâché sculpture of Alice B. Toklas embracing her lover, Gertrude Stein. The Avengers also ate fire, which would become their dramatic trademark—first practiced as an homage to an Oregon gay man and lesbian woman who were burned to death after a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the apartment they shared.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Recognizing sexism is harder than it once was. Like the micro-aggressions that people of color endure daily—racism masked as subtle insults or dismissals—today’s sexism is insidious, casual, politically correct, even friendly. It”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“And when a woman does fail, she is more likely to believe it’s personal—she sucked—while men view it as circumstantial (the business sucked). It’s not all bad. Women’s fear of failure may prompt them to become better informed; they take the time to read up on their ideas so they can supply evidence. But then of course
there’s the feedback loop: People who fear failure are less likely to put forward ideas, to take intellectual risks, and more likely to quit. They tend to avoid new challenges in favor of sticking to what they’re already good [at].”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Fem-i-nist Fight Club / n. Your crew, your posse, your girl gang; your unconditionally helpful professional support system; your ride-or-die homies.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Writing down your successes is another method—so you can look back on them every time you
feel a hint of self-doubt coming”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“In his book "Originals," the business professor Adam Grant describes how there are two kinds of failures: those centered on action and those centered on inaction--or, failing by botching the thing you tried, or failing by not trying at all. Most people think, ahead of time, that it's the failed actions they'll regret the most: the anguish of a tanked business or the humiliation of a botched marriage proposal. But guess what? When people reflect on their biggest regrets, what they regret most are the inactions--or the failure to try, not the failure itself.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“A woman will apply to an open job listing if and only if she thinks she meets all—that is, 100 freaking percent—of the requirements listed for that job. But a man? He’ll apply for that job when he meets just 60 percent.2 Perhaps it’s the product of what one study dubbed “honest overconfidence”—in which men rate their performance as better than it actually is, while women tend to judge theirs as worse.3 Who’s actually more qualified for the job? That’s a great question. But it’s safe to assume most hiring managers will never find out—because you haven’t sent them your résumé.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“...politically charged punk that combined activism and art. Forged out of a meeting of friends who decided they wanted to start a “girl riot,” the women gave rise to bands like Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney, addressing rape and violence in their songs, publishing zines, popularizing “girl power"...”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Você é contratada por uma empresa que vive propalando seu compromisso com “diversidade”, mas você é uma das poucas mulheres na equipe. Dia após dia, você se vê em salas de maioria masculina e branca, passando por eles nos corredores, ouvindo pedidos para ajudá-los em seus projetos, e de repente você começa a pensar se estão te olhando estranho, te escrutinando, porque você é a única diferente no recinto. Um dia, um deles questiona seu trabalho. Outro pergunta, inocentemente ou não, “Você nasceu aqui ou é de fora?”. A pressão vai aumentando e você começa a duvidar de si mesma. Você está brava, irritada, mas também aflita: simplesmente não pode errar, ou vai provar que o estereótipo está certo. Você precisa ser invencível. Aí comete um pequeno erro e começa a espiral de preocupação. É uma espécie de síndrome de Estocolmo institucional, só que pior: uma mistura de síndrome da impostora (fenômeno no qual mulheres e minorias de ótimo desempenho sentem que não fazem parte de um lugar), incluída aí a ameaça do estereótipo (medo de confirmar o pior estereótipo que têm sobre você – e por isso seu desempenho acabar caindo); assim como machismo e racismo reais (sim[…]”

Excerpt From: Jessica Bennett. “Clube da luta feminista: Um manual de sobrevivência (para um ambiente de trabalho machista).” Apple Books.”
― Jessica Bennett, Clube da luta feminista: Um manual de sobrevivência (para um ambiente de trabalho machista)

“Try the following: say no to everything that does not provide something crucial in return—so no more “shoulds,” only “musts” and “wants” (and sometimes even “wants” need to be cut back)”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“You could argue that our country was founded on a bropropriation of sorts: a white man (Columbus) and his crew (more white dudes) claiming credit for discovering a New World that wasn’t actually new (or theirs). In”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Determining how (and whether) the Slackluster is affecting your job. If he's just annoying, try to tune him out--you've got bigger battles to wage.If he's making your life impossible, if he's jeopardizing your work, then consider speaking up (to him or directly to your boss). If you choose the latter, come prepared. You need a concrete and non-speculative record of Slackluster misconduct, and for delivering that news, there's power in numbers: a solo tattle tale is just a snitch, but a group of people pointing out inefficiencies is in the company's best interest.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Within every woman exists a warrior. Really.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Named for the early feminist crusader Lucy Stone—the first woman to keep her maiden name”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“WOMEN’S LIBERATION ROCK BAND
This real (yes real) band formed in New Haven and Chicago in the 1970s and released an album of songs that included “Ain’t Gonna Marry,” “Dear Government,” and “So Fine.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“That is, membership was not based on merit but vagina. Which”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“La formación sobre diversidad no resuelve el problema de que se perciba como «mandonas» y antipáticas a las mujeres que se atreven a ambicionar el poder;”
― Jessica Bennett, El club de la lucha feminista: Manual de supervivencia en el trabajo para mujeres

“Cut the word "nice" from your vocabulary--along with all those other nurturing words we use to describe women ("kind," helpful," "a team player). Not only are women more likely to be described by such language, but research has found that those words cause them to be viewed as less qualified--perceived as pushovers, not somebody capable of running a team. So next time you have the urge to describe your female colleague as "sympathetic," try one of these "male" words instead: independent, confident, intelligent, fair.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“So I stopped getting mad and started taking notes.*”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“law professor Joan C. Williams in her book What Works for Women at Work:”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“There is no conclusive evidence to support that women are actually more emotional at work. But there is research to support that female emotion is perceived differently than men’s.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“If you can kill it in the bedroom, chances are you can kill it in the kitchen, too—and studies have shown that men who help out more with the chores have more sex with their wives (really!). We know, gender roles run deep, which is why women in hetero relationships still end up doing the vast majority of the domestic work despite being the breadwinners in two-thirds of American homes, leaving them burned out, resentful, and, nope, not really in the mood. But it doesn’t have to be this way—and, in fact, we might want to borrow a page from our LGBTQ sisters and brothers (or those who identify as neither): research shows they split chores, decisions, and finances more evenly”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“But those start-up founders don’t hide their failures; to the contrary, they flaunt them—blogging about them, gathering to talk about them at conferences like FailCon.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“LOWELL MILL GIRLS
Half a century before the better-known movements for workers’ rights, the women of the Lowell, Massachusetts, textile mills went on strike to protest hellish labor conditions—creating the first union of working women in American history.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“How do these women do it all?' Tina Fey has declared this "the rudest question you can ask a woman," and it's answer is simple: we're doing it the same way a dude would, except that he doesn't have to answer to answer questions.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace

“Every job is different--and, as with all the advice here, consider your specific situation--but the point is to veer away from the female tendency to ask instead of take. Don't issue a press release about your plans just 'cause. Sometimes less information is more.”
― Jessica Bennett, Feminist Fight Club: An Office Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace