Whisper Network

by Chandler Baker

Men could get away with hedging. It came across as thoughtful. If Sloane waffled it would sound like she didn’t know what the hell she was doing.

I don’t know about you, but in my professional life, I notice so many of these small socially-ingrained biases. The crazy thing is that even though I’m a woman and I write books about gender politics, I’m still as susceptible as anyone to them. Typically, if I have to negotiate a contract over the phone, I’m instantly more intimidated when there’s a man’s voice on the other end. I often think that the men in the room “sound smarter” than I do. I’ve overcome this feeling only with vast amounts of experience. Much more than I truly should have needed to feel confident in my competence. But what’s frustrating to think about is how my anxiety is somewhat warranted because the other people I work with are more than likely working within the exact same framework of socially-constructed biases.