Endorsed By...

Originally published on my other blog.

Me. Or not.

Right now, as my office is busily looking for its next hire, the woman-denigrator-in-chief has decided to hire another female.

At first, I was annoyed that women WEREN'T being hired. But now that the upper levels of the office have been stacked with men, it appears that some young, fresh out of school female intern will be added (at the bottom). The woman-denigrator-in-chief talks about all the women from the far flung corners of the United States who are just dying to come to our office. To myself, I snort, thinking that this is only because they're not here on the local scene to know catch a whiff of the truth.

What is bothering me intensely is that my name and my accolades sit there on the office website, like some sort of endorsement of the office. I remember when I was a young intern, I looked for offices with strong females. I looked for a certain level of education and age of the female employees. In short, I looked for older, accomplished women who could be my mentor. My current bio is notdifferent from what I looked for when I was fresh out of school. I figured if I admired the resume of the women at the office, it couldn't be a bad place for other women, right?

In this case, that answer would be WRONG.

It's really, really bothering me. I've faced relentless discrimination and belittling in this office...that wouldn't hold up in any sort of lawsuit. Another female – no longer with the firm – left suddenly and collected a "severance package" after only one year at the firm. That's the type thing I worry about more. Why does one collect a severance package, especially if one leaves suddenly after a year?

The men in my life remind me that the severance package story is not my story to tell. But I'll tell you what: as soon as I get out of this office, I will be leaving a very pointed review on Glassdoor, detailing my own experience. And if I could leave something on the "Shitty Architecture Men" list – or find its mirror – I'd do that, too.

It's just wrong, wrong, wrong.