Let’s start by stating the obvious - acts of sexism are absolutely unacceptable, whether done intentionally or out of ignorance. They are not merely condescending, but hurtful and can do real damage to a person. That is why it is important to learn about proper interpersonal conduct, whether at an early age, or later on, so that a person would consciously avoid something as inappropriate as sexism.
However, some people never seem to learn, which is why those on the receiving end of a questionable action sometimes think of clever ways to clap back at them. In the case of Reddit user u/Stitchywitchlich, that was exactly the case. She was a target of an act of sexism, and came up with a great way to teach her offensive father-in-law a great lesson in mindfulness. The Reddit thread u/Stitchywitchlich started gathered 45.9k upvotes and prompted 2.7k comments. Scroll down for the whole story and consider leaving a comment!
More info: Reddit
Some men believe that certain chores are exclusively a woman's job, but this Reddit user couldn't take it
Image credits: noricum
It is quite ridiculous to think that some people believe in job segregation based entirely on one's gender. Cooking, cleaning and ironing are somehow a "woman's job" in some people's minds. That is inherently sexist, which is why this woman decided to teach a bigot a lesson with a small, yet meaningful act. After all, it is no person's business to say what one should do or not do just because they're of different gender. A great rule of thumb for such people would be to start with themselves.
The story starts out with preparations for the Original Poster's engagement party, which is to have an unpleasant guest
Image credits: Stitchywitchlich
The Original Poster was in a rush, trying to prepare for her own engagement party when her father-in-law walked in and demanded his t-shirt ironed. First of all, a t-shirt for an event that important doesn't seem right. Secondly, this man's behavior is undoubtedly rude and sexist, which is no wonder why the woman decided to teach him a small lesson that he most definitely deserves. Turns out that ironing vinyl at the maximum heat setting is enough to ruin a shirt. Scorch marks appeared and the logo disappeared. This is arguably one of the best examples of malicious compliance.
The woman decided that the best medicine would be malicious compliance, that is, ruining the shirt
Image credits: Stitchywitchlich
The Original Poster gives some background about her father-in-law, who is apparently a rude person and a bigot. It could even be said that he had a lesson coming, and it is great it came from this specific person, considering they would become family by law. In any case, as the Original Poster says, politely declining in such a scenario is not the best course of action and it is not her job to lecture him on decency, which is why this simple act was a good blow to the father-in-law's bigotry.
The comments were completely supportive of the Original Poster, praised her, and shared their own experiences
All in all, it is great to see people stand up for themselves in situations where their value as people is undermined, even if the measures to do so are somewhat unconventional. Sexism, among other things, is very much unacceptable, which is why even said unconventional measures are valuable, as long as they teach a lesson.