Knowing how to stand up for yourself at all times is an important skill that comes in handy in various situations. Of course, that becomes hard to do when we’re presented with an uncommon situation when someone is clearly overstepping their boundaries and making us feel uncomfortable. A lot of us have probably heard how many women get harassed or even abused in various places, even those that are known to them and where they should feel comfortable. Having in mind how important it is to talk about such situations, TikTok user @duchessofdecorum decided to share her recent experience of having a business lunch with a 70-year-old man who decided it was an appropriate time to talk about the woman’s… nails. Pattie Ehsaei, who is behind this TikTok account, went viral with almost 955K views after revealing more details about how this clearly unsuccessful meeting went.
More Info: TikTok
Most of us realize that formal surroundings such as work events or business meetings aren't a place to discuss one's looks
Image credits: duchessofdecorum
Pattie Ehsaei is a keynote speaker and content creator talking about financial literacy, “social and workplace decorum”, and with this information distributed through various media platforms, empowers women. Ehsaei, who has 974K followers on TikTok from sharing useful information on the aforementioned topics, also decided to take an opportunity after going through a bizarre meeting to turn it into a valuable lesson that would encourage other people to not be silent when someone is making them uncomfortable with unnecessary remarks.
TikTok user decided to share how she received a sexist comment during a business lunch and encourage other women to not ignore such behaviors
Image credits: duchessofdecorum
The woman revealed that during their meeting a 70-year-old man "advised" her grow her nails longer
Image credits: duchessofdecorum
In her TikTok story, the woman showed herself in the car, frustrated. She revealed that she just left a business lunch that she attended with this 70-year-old man. The content creator admitted that her old self would’ve left the whole situation as it was and not have said a thing, but she felt that she was tired of old white men allowing themselves to throw random sexist comments at women. Ehsaei shared that in the middle of the lunch, the man suggested that she should grow her nails longer. This remark took the woman by surprise, so she asked him once again to repeat his thought as she didn’t quite understood what he meant by that. So the man repeated his comment by saying that she should have longer nails. The TikToker then asked why he thinks she should do so, and he admitted that in his mind, women are more attractive when they have longer nails.
This comment about her nails made the content creator irritated as she was appalled by his audacity to talk about her looks
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Despite the remark being inappropriate, the woman proceeded to continue the conversation by asking him why he thinks his opinion about her nails should matter to her. The businessman seemed to soon lose control of the conversation by admitting that he was “just saying” those things. The woman didn’t let this all slide, so she confronted him by saying that what is alarming is that he thinks it’s totally normal to talk with a woman that way because he has done it so many times and got away with it, also reminding him that he would never talk about a person's appearance if it was a man sitting next to him. After this, Ehsaei ended the conversation by stating that they were “done now” and walking out of the lunch meeting.
The woman didn't hold back and told him what she thinks about him and his unnecessary remark
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The TikTok user finished her talk by encouraging other women to call out such behavior and not be intimidated or silenced by inappropriate comments. A lot of people online supported the creator of the video and even made some jokes about the guy in question after remembering the mentioned flaws in his own appearance.
Bored Panda contacted the content creator to find out more insights on the matter. The woman, whose main goal is to help people “reach their dreams of owning their own business”, revealed that she wasn’t that surprised to see that her video became viral as she knows that a lot of women encounter misogyny daily, so they can relate to Ehsaei’s situation.
The content creator has also shared another video telling about another time she was harassed by a man that perhaps didn’t even realize that he was doing so, shedding some more light on this serious problem. When asked how often TikTok user receives sexist remarks, Ehsaei shared: “It’s gotten much better after the 'Me Too' movement. Now, 30% of the time.”
After she berated the man, the TikTok user walked out of the place
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The video was made to encourage other women to say something when they find themselves in a similar situation
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What could be done in this case? For employees, it’s important to know that they can trust their managers and the company by knowing that they will take certain actions if something happens to them. Often times the person who suffers this harassment might think that what’s happening to them is not serious enough or someone else says that it’s all in their head, so it’s crucial to be brave enough and stand up for yourself in times like these because it might also encourage someone else to speak up. “The only way these situations will end is if we do not tolerate them and speak up about them. If you don’t speak up, you’re perpetuating the problem, which gets women nowhere,” concluded the speaker.
What are your thoughts on this situation? Don’t forget to leave it in the comment section down below!
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You can watch the full video down below!
A lot of people online supported the user and even made some funny remarks about the businessman and his looks
Image credits: duchessofdecorum