She Called Attention To A Word Solely Used To Describe Women In The Workplace, Spurring Conversations On TikTok Regarding Women In Corporate America
Women in corporate America have made significant strides over the years. According to a 2021 Women In The Workplace report by McKinsey Global Institute, a business and economics research firm, “Women’s representation has increased across the [corporate] pipeline since 2016.”
Still, there are many persistent inequities. Women, in general, are still drastically underrepresented in leadership roles, and this rate only lessens for women of color.
Despite 57.4% of all women participating in the workforce, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report, their recognition and respect are underwhelming.
This underappreciation of women is not only apparent through the lack of women in leadership positions but also in the use of verbal micro-aggressions in offices across the nation.
One TikToker named Katrina Palanca recently went viral after discussing a specific word often used to describe women in the workplace. Unsurprisingly, this term– “abrasive”– is rarely ever spoken about men.
“I’m going to tell you about the time I was called that word. It was a Monday, and I had someone new on my team starting the following Monday,” Katrina explained.
So, she began following typical onboarding processes, like submitting requests for a welcome kit and technology package.
“Thursday late afternoon came around, and her work station was still not set up. So I went into IT again, and this time I spoke in a matter-of-fact, straightforward manner. It was the equivalent of not putting exclamation points in an email,” Katrina said.
TikTok; pictured above is Katrina
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Katrina reiterated that she needed the new employee’s station to be set up by the end of Friday’s workday since the employee was beginning on Monday.
“A couple of hours later, my boss came to my cube. He grabbed a chair, sat down next to me, and said, ‘hey, you’re not in trouble. I just want you to know that Steve from IT came into my office and said that you were being abrasive with his team,'” Katrina recalled.
Katrina was forced to– again– explain the entire situation and defend her communication. Her boss said he would take care of it, but Katrina still went home feeling uneasy.
“I was still really upset about this comment. I did not want to come off that way, and I did not intend to come off that way. But, I remember crying in my apartment because I was so upset that this happened,” Katrina said.
Katrina was so distraught that she actually decided to google the word “abrasive” in relation to women in the workforce.
“I found a study by a woman named Kieran Snyder that was conducted in 2014, and she had looked at two hundred and fifty performance reviews. She found that in seventeen of those reviews, the word ‘abrasive’ was used to describe women but never used to describe men,” Katrina explained.
Katrina is nowhere near alone in her frustrations. Her TikTok reached over five hundred thousand people and gained over one hundred thousand likes. Women from all over voiced their displeasure toward how they have been treated in the workplace and even shared their own experiences.
“This is so classic. Also, the fact that Steve did not just talk to you but instead spoke to your manager. Do your job, Steve,” commented one user.
“I was told that I was abrasive to my teammates– who are all men– because I asked if they were done with their breaks. We had work to do,” wrote a second user.
“For me, I’ve been labeled ‘bossy’ and ‘feisty’ anytime I speak assertively. The second is used to shame me for speaking with confidence and passion,” chimed in a third user.
Katrina actually created a follow-up video to specifically address this last comment and the use of the adjective “feisty” toward women.
“I also find that the word feisty is used when you are disagreeing with someone’s opinion,” Katrina responded. In addition, she condemned “groupthink”– the idea that everyone should agree to conform to a group’s ideologies.
As a woman, it is far too commonplace to be labeled as “abrasive” or “feisty” for speaking your mind or pushing past groupthink in the conference room.
Can you recall a time when management dismissed your contribution or regular work practice as emotional or rude? How can workplaces improve to ensure that office floors and board rooms are genuinely equitable?
To watch Katrina’s original TikTok video, visit the link here.
@katrinapalanca The word used to describe women, but not men
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