I think we need to talk about the hatred of women.

[MADem]

135. In the WW2 and on days, when women first started to join the workforce in numbers, it was Open

Season. Overt, outward harassment, that women were expected to perceive as a "compliment" to their attractiveness. If you look at old films from the era, the caricature of a pervy old guy chasing a sweet young thing around the desk was played for laughs, but it happened all too often in the workplace. Go visit a nursing home/senior center sometime, and seek out the ladies over eighty and over ninety--they'll give you an earful.

Today, that kind of conduct seems unimaginable, but it was common--routine, expected. The "good girls" who wanted to find a husband made sure they didn't find themselves in a position where their "marriage prospects" might be compromised, but it required continuous thinking ahead and no small degree of teamwork (it was harder, even back then, to harass two as easily as one--and it made assault, which was also all too common, much more difficult).

Until what--63 or so--there was no Equal Pay Act (even though it still isn't always enforced today, it was blatantly worse back then--women would do the work and men would get the promotions). Up to the late sixties, they had separate (and unequal) want ads in the paper--"women's" jobs were segregated out in the paper. Some people don't realize or believe how restrictive it was, how separated, how many "role paradigms" were enforced.

It's no picnic for a lot of people, still, in this era, but it was ghastly fifty years ago.

I think part--not all but part--of what you are experiencing is a consequence of a challenging job market. Your perception of that "anger" you speak of is absolutely real. It is entirely likely that, in your case, your gender does indeed play into any negativity you're feeling from male counterparts, but if you were a minority male you'd probably get an equal dose of vitriol from those same fellows for being the "wrong" color. If you were a minority faith, you'd probably feel a little heat for that reason.

It's Lord of The Flies out there in the workforce--kiss the Kumbayah goodbye for now. Employers will continue to be diverse in their hiring practices, but they'll be hiring far fewer people until the economy picks up. In some cases, they'll be letting people go, too, and the bosses just may be doing it by the numbers --"We can afford to get rid of a (fill in your choice of EEO category) and still be sufficiently diverse if anyone tries to file a lawsuit--hey, last hired, first fired, and all that!"

Jobs aren't plentiful these days, people are less inclined to be filled with the spirit of Equal Opportunity--especially if it means there are three people in a work center and only two of them won't get fired.

People are also less willing to help each other at work, especially if giving someone a hand will give that person a leg up--can't let "the competition" look too good, it could come back to bite ya, especially if the company is doing a bit of belt-tightening.

When it comes to getting and hanging on to a job, Everyone wants to be sitting in the catbird seat and it's a dog-eat-dog world, to totally mix the metaphors. Gone are the days (in the eighties and nineties) when employers competed to get good workers and offered perks like covered parking, company cars, extra vacations, bonuses, etc. Didn't like your workcenter back then? You could print out a resume and be gone in two weeks to a better place with a few more perks without batting an eye.

Now, people are looking right and left, suspicious of one another, not viewing co-workers as teammates, but as threats, and determined to hang onto their jobs at all costs. You've probably got a few people looking hard at you that way, and you're noticing it, unsurprisingly.

And for those who are newly hired, they pretty much are not surprised if they are expected to get down on their knees and kiss the boss's feet if they'll offer full time work and health insurance.

It's tough out there, and doubly tough for the kids coming out of college and trying to get that entry level position....and it is triply tough for anyone over or approaching fifty, regardless of gender, even though age discrimination is supposed to be out the window. Older people have health problems, employers figure, and they have more expenses and want a bigger paycheck...so if they can hire two twenties with no insurance or retirement benefits part time for the price of one fifty full time with a health plan and a retirement package, they'll do it for the insurance savings alone.

It's a really difficult time for most people trying to be a member of the "middle class work force."

I hope it gets better soon. This just can't continue on forever.