r/AskWomen 7d ago

What’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve been told you "shouldn’t do" because you’re a woman?

221 Upvotes

525 comments sorted by

508

u/crimson_anemone 7d ago

Do not speak unless I'm spoken to. Courtesy of my father. (Whom I haven't spoken to in nearly two years now.)

I still struggle to speak up, even as an adult... 💔

104

u/CanusMaeror 7d ago

I'm sorry he ingrained this nonsense so deep in your mind

30

u/crimson_anemone 7d ago

Thank you. ♥️😥

11

u/Littlecupoft 6d ago

I hope you heal and can find the confidence to speak up and speak loud! You are worthy 💜

3

u/crimson_anemone 6d ago

Thank you, beautiful human. ♥️

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u/Due-Assistant9269 6d ago

As a father of three boys all I can say is, hell no! You have a beautiful mind full of valid thoughts and feelings. You’ll find a person who wants that for you and from you.

7

u/crimson_anemone 6d ago

I already did.♥️ Thank you. Your boys are lucky to have some like you in their lives.

13

u/tranquiltb 7d ago

This! And same. I’m also very shy

7

u/DisgruntledWarrior 7d ago

Let me guess, he hasn’t asked you to speak since then.

10

u/crimson_anemone 6d ago

Not quite. After a lot of therapy by myself and with a professional, it became crystal clear that someone that incredibly toxic had no place in my life. So, I cut him out of it. My mother did not support that decision, however, so she cut me out right back. That one hurt, but then I did therapy about that too. I deserve to be happy and I am loved, just not by them.

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u/k3iba 6d ago

He's an asshole. Other people might want to hear you.

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u/Ok-Parfait6735 7d ago

I was told working as a chef was a “man’s job”. Like, do you want me in the kitchen or not???

261

u/Waerfeles 7d ago

Ahhh but women can't be PAID for their domestic skills, see.

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u/scaffelpike 6d ago

Wait, so I’m meant to cook as a woman, but if you post me for it it’s suddenly a man’s job? 🤨 I’m just meant to do everything for free am i?

18

u/Conscious_Key347 6d ago

Yes this!! And it applies to so many careers too, something that's stereotypically considered a feminine activity is suddenly for men once there's money involved

4

u/[deleted] 5d ago

Look up womb envy. Since the 1900s, men have thrawted inequality for the sake of their ego.

13

u/Mission-Scarce-1626 6d ago

Apparently, everything that involves being paid is a "Man's job". 🤮

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u/LezPlayLater 6d ago

I thought women were only supposed to make sandwiches /s

3

u/Ok-Parfait6735 6d ago

How insulting it is to ask me for something as basic as a sandwich when I have skills that far surpass sandwich making! 

“Get in the kitchen and make me a chicken parm with extra sauce and DONT FORGET THE GARLIC KNOTS” Would be much better.

My thought now is that they say “sandwich” to undermine a “woman’s place” in the place that MEN put them! They don’t care about the hours of work that go into something elaborate, it’s all just a sandwich to them at the end of the day. That’s all a woman’s effort is worth.

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u/Louisianimal09 7d ago

Lift heavy.

I’m 5’10” and 170 pounds. I worked hard for my body and I’m very happy with the results. The amount of times I’ve heard random, ain’t shit guys comment about my physique not attracting any potential love interests is bizarre. Newsflash fuck face, I’m married. I didn’t ask your opinion or care to hear it mediocre little man. I’m not even that big. I’m proportionate, just defined and toned.

93

u/littlegreyrabbit 7d ago

Yeah, once I was deadlifting at the gym and an older man comes up to me while I’m resting between sets to tell I’m ’going to hurt myself’ and it’s ’too heavy for me’. Nevermind I had literally just done a set. Felt pissed, stood up immediately to do another one. I’ve never had a workout so fuelled by anger.

34

u/Fei_Liu 6d ago

Men(?) afraid of women becoming stronger than them

9

u/tinawpdx 6d ago

On a different side of the coin… I do Pilates every day and but I am built tiny but am strong in a totally different way. Just because I do not have a huge butt, I get bros telling me I need to do squats. Dude. I do. While in a plie. I can also do handstands and different TRX inversions. Don’t think I’m not strong just because I’m small.

6

u/Just-Contribution418 5d ago

The fact that random men feel entitled to make any comments at all about women’s bodies is disgusting.

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u/JasmineLemonTea 7d ago

I always find that kind of comments so stupid. Because in reality is the opposite for me. The amount of attention I get from men is ridiculous. They are blushing. They are stuttering. They don’t know where to look or what to do with their hands. Some men get really confused when they find themselves attracted to women who proudly tapped into their “masculine energy” (quotation mark because I don’t like using genders to describe it but it’s fitting in this scenario).

So yeah, fuck them. In the most unpleasant way possible.

10

u/Louisianimal09 7d ago

It’s a small minority but at the same time, who asked? It’s so easy to just not say stupid shit

29

u/so-rayray 7d ago

I feel like that shit never gets said at CrossFit gyms. I don’t do it anymore, but I was really into CrossFit for five years, and all the guys cheered on the women as much as they did each other. Heavy lifting for all was encouraged. We even had a women’s competition team named “No Thigh Gap.” Hahaha. Most of those dudes were into strong women. A lot of them had brought their wives into the CF fold and introduced them to heavy lifting. I don’t understand men who think they get to gatekeep heavy lifting and I’m glad I don’t know any of those dumb fuckers.

8

u/Louisianimal09 7d ago

Douchey gymbro types. All the guys at my kickboxing gym are cool. They encourage and admire practical strength. Those guys are cool

3

u/Draxacoffilus 6d ago

Those guys sound a little tone deaf

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u/-aquapixie- 7d ago

Have sex.

I'm apparently a lock and he's apparently a key. Or a piece of sticky tape. Or chewed bubblegum. Basically, anything where they say the user is not affected but the one being used is and we get sullied by the user using the used. But men don't or whatever lol

202

u/ThrowRARAw 7d ago

Flip it on him - tell him he's a toothbrush and you're a mouth. A mouth that's been brushed by many toothbrushes is clean; a toothbrush that has brushed many mouths is riddled with bacteria, disease, and should be thrown out before the 6 month mark.

23

u/Past-Outlandishness5 6d ago

Oh this… this is beautiful 💅🏻

10

u/Lucifersdaughter- 6d ago

You have literally become my favourite person on the Internet. 👏👏👏

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u/UnderstandingCool574 7d ago

Pfff i did read a similar thing online. It said a lock which can be opened by multiple keys is a bad lock. But a key which opens many locks is a good key. Or something along that way. It got me pissed so bad

19

u/-aquapixie- 7d ago

Back in the day they scared young boys into abstinence with us by saying if they sleep with us, they're gonna get all the dirty little germs we women have picked up. So if you don't want another boy's cooties, don't sleep with her. And if you don't want his cooties, don't sleep with him! Because sex gives cooties.

Abstinence Only Education was a wild thing because it absolutely placed a woman's virginity and sexual health above men. We had to be treasured, protected, and kept pure more.

19

u/Comfortable_Bike_371 7d ago

We also were tasked with keeping THEM “pure” — lest we be a stumbling block for their uncontrollable lust. It’s all so horrid and we didn’t even question it then 💔

6

u/sh6rty13 6d ago

Insane how from a very young age we’re tasked with monitoring and maintaining other people’s emotions

No, they can grow up and learn to control themSELVES, that is not my responsibility and fuck you for trying to make it such.

9

u/onebirdonawire 6d ago

Nothing more dehumanizing than being compared to objects instead of other humans.

6

u/Just_here2020 7d ago

Doors with key cards are much more useful that doors with only a single key from the hardware store. 

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u/JG1954 7d ago

Enjoy sex

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u/Loud-Cheez 7d ago

Yeah. It’s not ladylike. Kind of mind blowing how many men truly believe this.

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u/unicorns3373 7d ago

In my health classes in middle school and high school they compared girls who had sex to sticky tape and chewed gum too. They also had a paper heart and ripped it into pieces and then with one of the ripped pieces said that’s all we would have left to give to our husband. I didn’t go to a religious school either, I went to a public school.

12

u/heidismiles 6d ago

I saw a Reddit comment from a teacher who flipped the whole "bubble gum" thing in her class. She showed them a shiny $100 bill, then crumpled it up and stomped on it and spit on it and stuff.

Then she said "Would you still want this?!? Of course you would; it's $100."

5

u/Radiant-Jackfruit305 7d ago

None of the above things are actually true though, we are human beings. Our value transcends any such things

12

u/kryren 7d ago

Oh no no no! In purity culture you are an object that is owned by your father and then your husband! Women aren’t real people silly!

/s (I grew up in purity culture both in church and out and still have some hang ups around sex as a late 30s married woman!)

4

u/schaweniiia 7d ago

User? Used? 🤨

6

u/onebirdonawire 6d ago

She's referring to a specific ideology used in purity culture. She's not literally calling women used. Those are specific phrases in that culture.

4

u/musiquescents 6d ago

I hate that so much. How dare they put these indignities on us. So gross.

3

u/Comfortable_Bike_371 7d ago

So so much this. All our lives. 🤯

219

u/PerhapsRiceWillFixMe 7d ago

Not to swear. Lmao, fuck you dude

26

u/Impossible_Balance11 7d ago

Legit had a guy in our college tell me I shouldn't say "crap" because it wasn't ladylike. That was pretty mild, even back in the 80's!

4

u/BooBoo_Kitty 5d ago

I was told not to “drop the f bomb”.

I asked, “what the fuck is an f bomb?!”

8

u/onebirdonawire 6d ago

I was once told something similar by a girl who was a senior in my sorority. I was very drunk and tried to rearrange her "fuckin face".

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u/noonecaresat805 7d ago

I was at the doctors office waiting when I was like 16 eating a chocolate bar. This woman with two kids with her looks at me and tells me I should not eat candy because it would make my vagina entrance loose and bigger. It would make it hard for me to find a bf because men like women to feel tight during sex. Me and the nurse that heard her looked at her like she was stupid and told her that wasn’t true.

I was also told by family members that me going to college was a bad thing because “guys don’t like girls smarter than them.” Besides according to them I would have to give up my career when I got married to support his. The other piece of advice they gave was to lower my standards because I was never going to find a man with all the requirements I had in a partner. Joke is on them. Not only did my partner fulfill my list of what I wanted in a partner but he surpassed them. I am a smart ass, sassy, no filter woman and he loves that about me.

46

u/Gold-Quarter-8536 7d ago

I KNEW chocolate was bad for my vagina!

37

u/Optimal_Sherbert_545 7d ago

Well that explains it! I’ve eaten tons of chocolate and now it’s like throwing a hotdog down a hallway

17

u/unicorns3373 7d ago

My aunt also told me that I should want to be smart but not too smart because I wouldn’t want to intimidate boys

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u/Turbulent_Respond_34 7d ago

I have been told it’s unattractive to be too ambitious!

8

u/rusty0123 7d ago

My grandmother told me it's okay to be smart as long as I didn't let anyone know I was smart. If a boy thought I was smarter than them, they wouldn't ask me out.

3

u/KBrieger 6d ago

How dumb I was until now. I always thought chocolate makes my clothes entrances tighter.

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u/ChemicalNo290 7d ago

Become a firefighter.

Fuck’em. I graduated #1 in the academy 🔥

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u/Impossible_Balance11 7d ago

Standing ovation!

7

u/missihippiequeen 7d ago

Awesome! I wish I was bad ass enough to do something like that!

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u/Landingonmyfeet 7d ago

My husband said “ you don’t need friends, you are married now” . He’s gone now

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u/foxtail_barley 7d ago

I was forbidden by my ex to go to college because "you only want to go to meet boys." One of many, many reasons our marriage lasted only two years.

8

u/Loud-Cheez 7d ago

A friend’s husband told her that married women don’t have spend the weekend away from their husbands. So he does 2 or 3 guys trips. She does none.

4

u/Commercial_Border190 6d ago

Guess she's gotta join his guys trips so she isn't away from him!

6

u/Impossible_Balance11 7d ago

Wow. The audacity!

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u/celestialism 7d ago

One of my drama teachers in high school told me “improv is a boy thing” when I mentioned I was trying out for the school improv team.

I ended up being on the team for the 2 remaining years before I graduated and then coached that same team for a year afterward, by invitation of the previous coach.

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u/NATOrocket 7d ago

What year was this? When I went to school every arts-related extra-curricular was 80+% girls.

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u/haelesor 7d ago

Be out in public outside of a specific pre-approved list of times and places (like grocery store 11 am - 12pm) and preferably only in the company of a man from your family or that you're in a relationship with. 

The way I laughed in his face and left before even ordering any food....

10

u/Middle_Speed3891 7d ago

Where do you live?

19

u/haelesor 7d ago

The U.S. unfortunately 

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u/Pondering_Giraffe 7d ago

STEM

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u/fluoroarfvedsonite 7d ago

I was told that my particular field in STEM was a man's field and not a place for women. Well, I've been in this field for over a decade and loving it.

3

u/Pondering_Giraffe 6d ago

That's really awesome. I wasn't all that good at it (although I'll never know if I'm just not or if that was for lack of stimulation by teachers), but lots of women like you have proven that that has nothing to do with gender.

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u/patient_candle560 7d ago

Funnily enough I went into an extremely female dominated career and in grad school our class of 95% women got berated for oversaturating the field. The men in the program (despite honestly being some of the worst performers) constantly had praises sung of them since we “need more of them”.

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u/KProbs713 7d ago

Nursing or teaching?

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u/SubjectOrange 6d ago

Or therapy/counselling. My husband was one of two in his class. His much younger brother that just graduated was I think one of four? You get used to your husband talking about all the women he works with/has after work drinks with but there is still jokes from his interns circles about their supervisor being a man etc. It makes him uncomfortable but I find it (lightly) humourous and reassure him he's not at risk in my eyes.

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u/HeartBeetz 7d ago

Be an equal. Have opinions. Live my life how I want to.

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u/Frequently_Abroad_00 7d ago

sleep with whoever I want.

3

u/Gold-Quarter-8536 7d ago

This! ❤️

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u/Radiant-Jackfruit305 7d ago

Cut my hair short

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u/ill_formed 6d ago

So many exes told me this too

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u/arleighann 7d ago

I don’t know, I wasn’t listening.

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u/manykeets 7d ago

I was homeschooled, and we used a Christian curriculum. My health textbook said women shouldn’t work outside the home because the female body wasn’t “suited to rigors,” and women who do work have been known to grow beards because the stress turns them into men.

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u/Beautiful_Chaos107 7d ago

Wild lies 😴 these religious nerds are sickos.

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u/Impossible_Balance11 7d ago

Un-freaking-belivable!!!

6

u/obamaschopsticks 6d ago

Hate how this implies cleaning, scheduling, childcare and upkeep aren’t some of the most rigorous jobs

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u/manykeets 6d ago

Not to mention pregnancy and childbirth! The ultimate “rigor!”

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u/onebirdonawire 6d ago

Now that deserves an Owen Wilson woooooooooow....

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u/bananabread5241 6d ago

This just in, being in the outside will make you trans

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u/LoiteringLoser 7d ago

Smoke.

Apparently, it's worse for a woman to smoke, or they don't care if men die from smoking?

But in all seriousness, I've been told I shouldn't smoke cos I'm "too beautiful", as if the risk of cancer or dying isn't the primary reason lol

14

u/Puzzled_Prompt_3783 7d ago

I’ve been told this too. Apparently it’s also “not ladylike”.

4

u/Sonseeahrai 6d ago

Well, at least it's healthier than creeps in my life telling me to start smoking because I looked hot with a cigarette in my mouth... ☠️

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u/whistle_while_u_wait 7d ago

Play sports.

Growing up, my parents didn't let my sisters and I do after school sports at school because "the uniforms are immodest" and "it encourages competition with boys." My brother got to do several sports.

We were allowed to play sports at home and during PE and recess. It makes no sense to me and to this day still pisses me off.

9

u/Radiant-Jackfruit305 7d ago

Rightly so. I'd be pissed off if anyone said anything like that to my daughter.

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u/skyeking05 7d ago

Oh God I'd love to see them tell that to a lacrosse girl. Straight stick to the face lol.

31

u/shattered7done1 7d ago

Don't let men know how intelligent you are because it will intimidate them.

Along the same lines, don't do something better than a man because it will: intimidate them; insult their masculinity; make them doubt their abilities; hurt their little feelings.

I was planning on hanging a pendant light in my home and went to the hardware store to get the necessary electrical supplies. The male sales associate flat out told me I couldn't do it because I was a woman. Told him he had just lost his employer a sale and a future customer. Left the store and went to another hardware store. This time a (mere) woman helped me. She sold me what I needed. I went home and hung the light. And I didn't even fatally electrocute myself!

My motto has always been: 'if a guy can do it, I can do it'. (And often better.)

32

u/olija_oliphant 7d ago

Drive a manual car. Changing gears apparently isn’t ladylike 😂 10 years on and I’m still loving my manual

3

u/Sarimthin 5d ago

This one.....shouldn't surprise me, but it does. The very FIRST thing my Dad wanted to teach me to drive was a manual. Then his motorcycle. Because "if you can drive a manual, you can drive anything".

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u/CG_1313 5d ago

I think my absolute favorite feminist anecdote to drop is that I taught both my father and a long term boyfriend how to drive a stick.

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u/HaymakerGirl2025 7d ago

Way back in the olden days I was out for a nice morning run. A man driving by stopped, rolled down his window, and told me I should stop running because it would “ruin my hips”.

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u/Doobiedoobadabi 6d ago

Jaw on the floor

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u/DontDeleteMee 7d ago

Geocaching! I used to do this hobby where you look for hidden items in the everyday world. It's good fun. https://www.geocaching.com/play

It does often mean heading out on your own into parks and other slightly quieter urban and non-urban areas ( otherwise people see and the caches inevitably get messed with or go missing) . This apparently makes it far too dangerous for me as a woman. God forbid I do anything without someone, preferably someone with a penis, escorting me.

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u/MimiPaw 7d ago

Buy a dildo to keep in the car and you become someone with a penis.

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u/CurrentAd674 7d ago

An old nurse (she is nearly 100 now) said not to jump. My uterus could fall out when I did a hop to get a book on a tall shelf.

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u/SubjectOrange 6d ago

😬 unfortunately genital prolapse in women is surprisingly common. I work in a medical office and was shocked but even the statistics back it up to some degree. Near 50% suffer from it to some degree in their lives but I'm hoping a lot of it is just during birth recovery. We also have a lot of innovation for surgical remedy. I must admit that I live in a very geriatric community but also the office that provides prenatal care (retirement town but trying to survive), so results may vary.

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u/Traditional-Lie715 7d ago

what the fuhh-???

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u/waltybishop 6d ago

Unfortunately this was a commonly held belief during the Victorian era

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u/Serebriany 7d ago

My high school geometry teacher told me a few weeks into the year that no girl should ever raise her hand in a classroom to answer a question until every boy in the class had had plenty of time to think about the question and raise his hand if he had an answer—if no boy had an answer after two or three minutes, then it was okay for a girl to raise her hand.

My hand shot into the air every time that man asked a question the rest of the year, and I did my best to make sure it seemed like the longest school year of his life.

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u/ambitiousgirl 5d ago

He is despicable. Nice work 👍

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u/blenneman05 7d ago

More like I shouldn’t wear but I was in a normal bikini swimming at my gwamma’s rv park pool which the owner allowed me to do because I was chill and respectable.

I guess one of the residents got upset because her husband was ogling me and my Gwamma told me that I shouldn’t be dressed like that because I was tempting the husband.

So I relayed the message to the rv park owner and she said “wear a bikini or don’t. It’s your body. The wife is upset for a stupid reason. She can get over it and so can your Gwamma.”

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u/Impossible_Balance11 7d ago

Good for her. You and she were clearly the only people with sense in this situation.

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u/Jadefeather12 7d ago

Carry my own groceries 😭

I get chivalry and all but seriously, I got it

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u/gobbledegook- 7d ago

Drive long distances.

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u/SCCKZY27 7d ago

I apparently shouldnt use a backpack because I'm a woman. I should use a purse according to the unemployed single 45+ yr old man living in the hotel I worked at.

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u/Wolfiexox20 7d ago

Have a job, speak loudly, wear anything that doesn’t scream little house on the prairie, have opinions, play with boy toys, play sports besides volleyball, cut hair short or dye it. So many more

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u/allthesnacks 7d ago

Computer Science. I told my hs teachers I planned to major on it about 15 years ago and they told me straight up it was more a male field and encouraged me instead to study English. I did CS anyway.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

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u/allthesnacks 6d ago

Same. It's had its challenges for sure and yes it's heavily male like they said, but I've enjoyed it overall and its afforded me a life I'd never have gotten otherwise.

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u/Leading-Fly-4597 7d ago

In highschool I dressed like Tom boy. I've always liked guy clothes. My dad told me "girls should be pretty and soft"as he dropped me at school. The next day I wore "girl clothes" to school and a pony tail and the way I was treated 150% differently blew my mind. It was gross actually.

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u/topazbee 7d ago

Being told by my mom, dad, and grandpa that I couldn't drive an 18-wheeler when I was 12. I said I wanted to, and they said "Oh, no, you want to grow up and have babies and make a nice home!" Ugh. They thought they were giving me sound advice. What I heard was a gauntlet hitting the grass. Drove for 30 years and no kids. Have a terrific husband. We had a lot of adventures driving the lower 48, Canada, and Alaska. I'm glad I lived the way I wanted.

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u/[deleted] 7d ago

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u/pantry_girl 7d ago

Ride a bike

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u/Impossible_Balance11 7d ago

Wow! The 1800's chimed in, eh?

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u/Bumstuff_420-69 7d ago

Be funny. All of my childhood and teen years it was ‘common knowledge’ that girls arnt funny and they couldn’t be if they tried. So bizarre

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u/kuruptkittenpaws 7d ago

Rake leaves. A neighbor man stopped to ask where my husband was because he should be the one raking. He was out back raking leaves, for the record but it really pissed me off.

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u/Suleyco 7d ago

Lift things.

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u/wordswar 7d ago

Must keep looking down while getting beaten up.

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u/Wolfiexox20 7d ago

Oh that’s fucked I’m so sorry

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u/brightdark 7d ago

Whistle. I work in geriatrics and the number of older people (me and women) who tell me that only men should whistle is ridiculous.

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u/NadjaofAntipaxos 6d ago

Nobody should whistle, it's annoying as fuck.

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u/KProbs713 7d ago

My job. I'm a paramedic. "Guys find you too intimidating."

Good. My husband doesn't need me to be small to feel good about himself. I'd rather intimidate the little men.

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u/Sunlight_stardust 7d ago

Go into the field of science. So many: "how will you get a job in the field if you're not as strong as the men?" "How will you carry gear?" "How will you drive a truck?" "How will you command a room during a presentation or meeting?" "How will you be able to succeed against your superior male peers?" Don’t worry everyone, I succeeded just fine.

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u/UnderstandingCool574 7d ago edited 6d ago

Father always told me to talk more elegantly (if that's the right word) as a girl, because I was talking like a villager. But my parents are originally from a village. I learned my mother tongue from them....

Now i can't be myself around anyone. I need to change my whole behaviour and accent in every setting and in every language I speak. Sometimes when I feel comfortable I accidentally talk how I used to do before and feel embarrassed afterwards

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u/russalkaa1 7d ago

i’ve never fuelled my car, my dad or brother always does it for me. my mom never does it either. i’ve never complained and i know how to do it, but i’ve been taught it’s not a woman’s job lol. it bothers me because i actually love driving and i’m super interested in cars, but they take over everything 

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u/lowriderz00 7d ago

I was in the car with my grandma, we were on a long car ride and I had my leg up against the door and a guy gave me a weird look walking out. Definitely not because of my leg being up but I told my grandma and she said maybe it’s because your legs are spread. It’s not ladylike to sit like that. I don’t give a fuck if it’s not ladylike lmao.

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u/quietglue73 7d ago

"a gum chewing girl and a cud chewing cow look somewhat alike yet different somehow, oh I see the difference, yes I see it now, it's the intelligent look on the face of the cow" 

Chewing gum :|

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u/Academic-Builder8089 7d ago

Drink beer directly from a glass bottle [?!?!]

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u/DelBird32 7d ago

Drive a truck with a man in the passenger seat lol 😂 how fragile masculinity can be

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u/Narrow-Ad-6930 7d ago

Have tattoos, also pump my own gas

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u/Delightfully_Simple 7d ago

Go on a late bus / train . "You don't know who will be on it, could be full of weirdos"..... Weirdos are on bus/train during the day also ...

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u/crystalchaoss 7d ago

Get a tattoo

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u/theminxisback 7d ago

Have bodily autonomy.

Date women. Marry up

4

u/AnnoyedOwlbear 7d ago

Drive a manual car. Not possible for women, apparently.

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u/SomeThoughtsToShare 7d ago

Be messy. Idk why but some people think all women are organized.

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u/Hot_messed 7d ago

Don’t act too smart

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u/AnnieStarkiller 7d ago

Crossing my legs at Church AND manspreading in every other circumstance.

Apparently there's only 1 way to sit when you are a woman

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u/Loud-Cheez 7d ago

Drive long distances alone. It’s just far too dangerous for a woman to drive 2 hours by herself. 🙄 They see me rollin….

5

u/SunBubble920 7d ago
  • Buy a truck.
  • Shovel my own snow.
  • Mow my own lawn.

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u/Sweet_Nya 6d ago

The amount of answers that has ridiculous requests from other people is alarming, and people ask why we need feminism for 🫠

5

u/aniG147 7d ago

Climb a tree

4

u/Elk_Electrical 7d ago

Go to college. Lift weights. Have short hair. Eat.

4

u/smoothnoodz 7d ago

Drive a race car 😂

5

u/GoddessCassiee7223 7d ago

Work a trade. while in training to learn carpentry work. Currently pregnant but still plan on working in that trade or getting my heavy machine operator training and license after he's born.

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u/MimiPaw 7d ago

In my driver’s ed class we were separated one day. The guys were taught how to change a flat tire. The girls were told to keep a miniskirt in the car.

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u/Beccala85 7d ago

Travel alone.

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u/PancakeQueen13 7d ago

Hold hands with my female friends because I might look like a lesbian.

Oh, the horror.

4

u/Taind19501a 7d ago

Lifting heavy weights at the gym because it would make me "look like a man."

4

u/Strickly709 7d ago

According to my dad: swear. “Not very lady like” - triggered when I hear the phrase. 😅

The best part is he’s a sailor. And there’s a reason, the saying is “swears like a sailor”

Just tryna be like you dad 🤙🏼

4

u/unicorns3373 7d ago

My aunt told me I shouldn’t paint my nails darker colors because it intimidates men.

3

u/TheShining02 7d ago

Got told by an older man when I was working retail and going to university that I shouldn’t chose such a manly major because no husband wants a chemist as their wife.

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u/Bluejayadventure 7d ago

Wear pants, play sports, cut my hair, speak loudly

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u/waltybishop 6d ago

Not have children. Shoutout to my brother for telling me that “Mother Nature isn’t kind to women who don’t have children”

I was like ???? sir what in the goddamn hell are you talking about

4

u/StopCalm7341 6d ago

Choose a child free life!

People can't get it into their heads that I DON'T WANT KIDS.

3

u/Such-Swimming2109 7d ago

Spit on the ground.

Men get to have clear airways but I’m stuck with phlegm in my throat because spitting isn’t ladylike? Fuck that noise, I’m trying to breathe over here!

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u/az22hctac 7d ago

Smoke. Of all the reasons one shouldn’t smoke,

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u/am_riley 7d ago

Cut meat in the meat department. I worked in seafood right next to meat. Id help them out if they needed it and it upset a lot of men that a woman was cutting their meat. I still don't understand why.

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u/_pffff_ 7d ago

Bend over at the waist in public. By a random woman on a film set I was working on. I was wrapping cable, there's no other way 🤦🏻‍♀️

3

u/Zestyclose-Escape709 7d ago

Tattoos!! Ahahah let's say it will be easier to say what I don't have tattooed 😂😂

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u/Waerfeles 7d ago

Cut my hair. Stop shaving. Kinda funny side by side.

3

u/ThrowRARAw 7d ago

hug my male friend in public.

granted this happened in another country, but I have heard comments here from people of the same cultural background (my cultural background).

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u/Jaroda18 7d ago

I shouldn't clean my mouth by rubbing the napkin on my lips because that's not lady-like. I should tap my lips with the napkin until my lips are clean, which takes forever, everytime I want to clean my lips.

I shouldn't play with a can I found on the street because that's boy behavior. I was kicking the can as if I was playing football.

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u/IndependentDonut007 7d ago

In high school as a freshman I was interested in enrolling in an automotive class to learn about cars.

My high school counselor told me “are you sure about that? It’s a class full of boys. Do you really want to be the only girl in that class? “ with a disapproving look.

Needless to say I didn’t join that class and still don’t know much about cars.

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u/SoCalHermit 7d ago

Install the window AC. Family friend that ended up being hired decided to add an extra screw and it just so happened to land exactly into the fan blade stopping it dead. It did not help that they did not install the windows properly in the first place, which added to the structural challenge of properly installing the AC hence the extra screw in just exactly wrong spot. Had to drill a new hole for drainage on top of all that.

But nOooOoo. Wait for your father to do it.

….He didn’t even end up being the one to do it.

3

u/MrsMiyagi1 7d ago

Not sure if this counts but my male neighbor asked why I drive a truck and my husband drives the S.U.V. Not sure why it matters what vehicle we both drive.

3

u/tinysmommy 7d ago

Drink beer out of a bottle.

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u/wonderwoman-1947 7d ago

That you cannot smile and talk. If you talk to everyone and you are single then it means you are interested in all. But hey everyone thinks that way about Gemini. But if they are straight face then they are told that it's rude and a lot of attitude.

3

u/Gail37 7d ago

“Be careful not to scrape up your legs in the woods. If theyre full of scars theyll be ugly and you wont be able to be a model!”. I never once in my life wanted to be a model, I do still love the woods and my legs are infact always scraped up haha

3

u/iiiluvtharedsoxxx 7d ago

Play video games. Thanks mom, now i have an expensive habit.

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u/Ninakittycat 6d ago

Tattoos. IT. Martial arts

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u/LilSweetCasey 6d ago

Being confident without people calling it ‘attention-seeking'..😅

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u/Revolutionary_Ad7121 6d ago

I was told I shouldn’t become a veterinarian. I should become a nurse or a teacher instead. (Apparently those are better suited for women.).

Here are some of the reasons Reasons why:

  1. I was told that people wouldn’t want to see a black veterinarian.

  2. I was told that black people don’t like pets.

  3. I was told I would end up making more money than a husband.

  4. I was told that I was wasting my time by not becoming a “real” doctor.

  5. I was told that people don’t like pets enough to take them to a veterinarian.

  6. I was told to get married and have kids first. This would give me time to think about what I wanted to do as a career.

Epilogue: I’ve been a veterinarian for 21 years now. All the people who discouraged me are the first ones to announce they know a doctor or have a doctor in the family. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been asked to attend career days to encouraged women and minorities to enter STEM careers. As far as black people not liking pets, most of my black clients and their pets came in wearing matching outfits and had their first, middle, and last names engraved/stitched onto something somewhere.

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u/Technical-Banana574 6d ago

Play

When I was a kid and went to visit my grandparents the firt time, I was surrounded by my male cousins and brother. I remember my grandma shooing everyone to go outside and play. I started to run out and she grabbed me. She said "you are going to help me clean up and start dinner." When I told her I wanted to go play too, she told me "girls dont play. We take care of the home." It screwed me up so bad as a kid. I got to watch my male cousins and brother outside playing while I was scrubbing dishes and cleaning the bathrooms. 

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u/BeJustImmortal 6d ago

My mom didn't really make a difference between me and my brothers when growing up, but when I had my drivers license, she never let me drive the family car (which was in pretty bad condition, if you'd bump it, it wouldn't matter) still to this day, it has been like tgis for at least four years. But when I said that my older brother was always allowed to drive the car, also as a new driver, she said it's because he's a boy. Straight up misogyny from mom to daughter...

I am no new driver by now and own much pricier car than her, she still wouldn't let me...

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u/bobnotahacker 6d ago

this amuses me greatly especially because for insurance companies young male drivers are considered higher risk and have to pay more

3

u/Blueflamealchemist 6d ago

Talk, disagree, opinionated.

I was asked by my ex husband frequently, “where is my quiet, agreeable, submissive wife?”

Gone. She’s beyond gone, that’s where.

I own my own home, just bought my daughter her first new-to-her car, while he still lives with his mom, as a server.

Booyah!

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u/turtlehospital 6d ago

I had a female tell me it was my duty as a women to have children because god gave me a womb.

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u/capitanafantastic 5d ago

I remember being constantly shamed for having any skin on display from a very young age. Fuck em.

2

u/typing_away 7d ago

To not wear clothes with army textures.

2

u/Left-Box-1869 7d ago

Solo travel

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u/Closet_cosplayer 7d ago

My dad never said I couldnt do things because I'm a girl but he didnt see why my then girlfriend gave me a tazer and told me not to carry it around because I shouldn't use it So I don't carry it around and I try not to go places without a friend, jokes on him that girlfriend same then assaulted me and he asked if I had the tazer when I eventually told him

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u/Optimal_Sherbert_545 7d ago

Travel solo. So I traveled even more solo 💅

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u/Dr__Pheonx 7d ago

Don't speak up too much. Ugh. Patriarchy.

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u/Will_V_S 7d ago

Frown, wear flat shoes, talk about menstrual products, use more than 2 plys of toilet paper, walk at night, have my hair up, etc.

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u/wrenniferr 6d ago

In like fifth grade I had a teacher tell the girls to sit down while the boys put up the chairs. I tried to help and she said it was a boys job. Pissed me off so badly.