‘Belittling’: 24-year-old reveals response she gets from some men after revealing her job
A young woman has been left fuming over a remark made by a man after meeting him at a pub – and it reveals a much bigger issue.
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A young Aussie has opened up about the bizarre reaction she receives from men when she reveals what she does for a living.
Emma Gillman is a former sex and relationships journalist turned PR strategist. She now runs her own PR company, The Siren Group, which specialises in supporting clients in the adult industry.
The 24-year-old is passionate about her work but was recently taken aback when a man she met at a pub called it “degrading”, proving there’s still so much stigma around what her clients do.
“Men often sit on the more polarised ends of the spectrum, either they’re super supportive, invested and helpful, or they’re dismissive and belittling,” she told news.com.au.
The young Aussie is currently single and she’s found men making bizarre comments about her work a weirdly normal part of dating.
“There’s a lot of micro-objectification that comes with being single and talking to men about what I do for work,” she said.
“They will often start talking to me about sex, what they like in bed, or ask me what my ‘weirdest sex story’ is — all within minutes of meeting.”
Ms Gillman said she finds it “annoying” because so many men make assumptions based purely on stereotypes.
“They’d never jump to personal sex questions if I worked in corporate PR,” she said.
Once she even had a man that was seated next to her on a flight randomly start asking her about her sex life after she mentioned what she does for a living.
“When I tried to shut the conversation down by telling him it’s a job, so it hasn’t changed anything, he explained how he thought I’d be more open to things like sex parties,” she said
The 24-year-old said she doesn’t let these men’s comments get her down, particularly because she finds what she does “empowering,” but that doesn’t mean it isn’t exhausting.
“It makes total sense that some men feel threatened by women’s increasing sexual autonomy,” she argued.
Ms Gillman said she has no time for anyone who looks down on the people she does marketing for and it frustrates her that people think they can insult them to her face.
“I could go on and on about the amount of sexist comments people have said to me,” she said.
The 24-year-old said that it is one of the most “frustrating and infuriating” parts of working in the industry.
Ms Gillman is used to being underestimated, she routinely deals with people who dismiss her business as “silly or a hobby” simply because of her age.
“I’ve been able to get quite far in terms of my finances, but I really struggle with the way I’m being treated as a young woman starting her own thing,” she said.
“In the beginning I felt the need to talk a lot about numbers to prove that I was doing well.”
Ms Gillman said she’s more comfortable in herself now. She knows how well her business is doing, and she’s learnt to ignore anyone who acts differently.
The 24-year-old is a fan of running her own business and creating an empire – but she doesn’t recommend it for everyone.
You have to be able to work on multiple projects at once and learn about everything from people management to tax.
“It is stressful and not for everyone,” she said.
“I think a lot of people don’t have the confidence, and they really should; you look at people you work with in an office and think ‘you’re an idiot’,” she said.
Originally published as ‘Belittling’: 24-year-old reveals response she gets from some men after revealing her job
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