Jan Edmiston's blog post on May 14th was Let’s Talk About Talking. Do you know someone who must always have the last word?
Even worse, have you ever been interrupted by some man in a meeting as you were trying to speak? In May 2018, I blogged about the time a man tried to speak over ME (click that link, and see item #5):
I'm interested in the #MeToo movement and how many women can say, "Me, too." When I attended a recent panel discussion, I counted 31 of us in the room. Only nine were men, but every one of them (except the silent young man who accompanied a woman on the panel) spoke up, some repeatedly. I noticed that the men would jump into the conversation without waiting for the moderator (who was a woman) to call on them, while women were raising their hands and waiting to be called on. Fewer than half the women spoke at all. Finally, I had had enough. I waited patiently, with my hand up, until the moderator called on me. When I started talking about women needing to have a voice and men doing the talking about #MeToo, a man near me interrupted me (!!!). So I stood up and continued to speak loudly ABOVE him. We women had come to discuss the #MeToo situation, not to have it "man-splained" to us, though I didn't use that word. A woman came up to me afterwards to thank me for speaking up.
Speaking up like that is so difficult so I am proud of you for doing it. This situation is so common. I have noticed in staff meetings that men (not all) speak without being called on and make declarative statements, while women say "I just have a question" or some other self-depricating remark to begin. We have to speak more forcefully.
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