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>I have this happen to me all the time. I instead choose to reflect on how I conveyed my message and try to improve my soft skills. I'm definitely not saying that gender issues don't exist but I hope that people aren't to quick to blame sexism when instead it was a communication issue.
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I agree 100%

I'm going to take Bonnie Berent as a model for this. I've known her online for the better part of 10 years. She does the right things in communication. She also doesn't make the big mistakes (the big one she avoids is that she refuses on principle to weight in on a topic where she doesn't have information).

Yes, there's sexism in the world, and it's very unfortunate. There's racism and there's just plain ugliness. At VS Live I overheard two guys making rude cracks about a gay couple, and I said something to them that I'm pretty sure got them to stop.

But I agree, too often it's a convenient excuse.