Ellen Pao And The Sexism You Can't Quite Prove

Ellen Pao And The Sexism You Can't Quite Prove
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 27: Ellen Pao (R) leaves the San Francisco Superior Court Civic Center Courthouse with her attorney Therese Lawlwess on March 27, 2015 in San Francisco, California. A jury found no gender bias against Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao and former employee at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers. Pao was suing Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers for $16 million alleging she was sexually harassed by male officials. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - MARCH 27: Ellen Pao (R) leaves the San Francisco Superior Court Civic Center Courthouse with her attorney Therese Lawlwess on March 27, 2015 in San Francisco, California. A jury found no gender bias against Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao and former employee at Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers. Pao was suing Kleiner Perkins Caulfield and Byers for $16 million alleging she was sexually harassed by male officials. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

It happens all the time when my husband and I are at work events together. Cocktail Party Guy asks my husband about how things are going at his news site, and he answers. Then Cocktail Party Guy asks me how our dogs are, and I answer, before pivoting the conversation back to work — and later rolling my eyes as we walk away. It is not impolite. It is not inappropriate. But it is still, at least in my mind, sexist. Both me and my husband love our work. Both me and my husband love our dogs. One of us gets asked about our work. One of us gets asked about our dogs.

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