Smile and Look Pretty

by Amanda Pellegrino

Cate didn’t even need to look around to know that Lucy and the other female assistants were all smiling the exact same smile. The one you exchanged with the girl sitting across from you on the subway who was politely responding to a guy’s unwanted questions until her stop. The one you gave your barista after you heard the customer in front of you tell her to smile. The one you spotted on the runner across the street after you were both catcalled from the same car.

“A woman is a bitch. A man is just opinionated.”

A woman with an opinion and nothing to lose is a powerful thing.

The whisper network continued—a publicist in the elevator telling her not to wear such tight pants; a wardrobe stylist commenting that the thicker the fabric the less the pinching would hurt. Then, Max passed along the message to her first intern in the same way. But no one ever said anything to him. No one ever told him to back off or stop. They just warned each other. And that was part of the problem.

That was what happened when a whisper network started whispering a little louder.

Because we’re plotting against the patriarchy.

She also realized that there were a lot of negative stereotypes to describe women. The Feisty One. The Ambitious One. The Stubborn One. The Shrill One. The High-Strung One. The Intense One. The Mannish One. The Dramatic One. The Nagging One. The Feminist One. The Slutty One. The Prudish One. The Loose One. The Easy One. The Snobby One. The Modest One. The Moody One. The Dependable One. The Distracting One. The Desperate One. The Sensitive One. The Tomboyish One. The Lucky One.

It took quitting to realize maybe a job that made you this miserable wasn’t one worth hiding for.

You can say no. You can create boundaries. You can stand up for yourself. And you should. We all should.