Tales from the city: The rules of discussing another woman’s weight - Women's Agenda

Tales from the city: The rules of discussing another woman’s weight

The Power Playbook’s Rose Herceg reports from whichever city she finds herself in about the stories she sees in boardrooms, business lunches and dinners across Australia (and sometimes the world).

Time: Lunchtime on a Thursday
Place: New York diner – a table with a group of professional women

The scene: A table of women zero in on a woman at another table who is a little on the larger side. She tucks into her burger and fries and seems to be enjoying her food immensely as the group of women at the other table take their time eating dressing-free salads. They make damning comments about the large woman’s lunch choice and condemn her for choosing a burger. They make comments about her clothing and her size and call her out on her lack of discipline and self-control. They sound disgusted and they are vicious.

Power play do-over? (If these women could turn back the clock and have that moment all over again)

These women have forgotten rule number one: weight and weight management is a personal issue and none of us has the right to comment on another woman’s food choices. They’ve also forgotten rule number 2: if it had been a man at the other table enjoying a burger, they probably would never have commented. Big men are usually seen as powerful. Big women are seen as lazy and undisciplined. And this is exactly what one of the women should have pointed out at the table in order to shut down the conversation!

Fair. Evolved. Kind and decent: very powerful indeed,

Next week we listen in on a salary negotiation…

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