I work as a construction manager and a colleague was very disrespectful to me. He was consistently talking over me and at one point he called me "sir" in front of another colleague (I think rather mockingly - I am a petite, feminine woman), and then after an awkward silence said "oh, I mean madam" (also strange word choice). I reported this to my supervisor, and she said I could call his supervisor directly to report it as well. But should I? Or should I let it go? Another colleague (who was not there) says it's better to leave it alone.

1 Comment

1. AnonymousSeptember 9,2026 at 9:27PM UTC

   I am in my seventies and what you describe was "modus operandi" in my early career. We used to handle it by sometimes making a joke, i.e. - "Have you been to your eye doctor recently?" or replying "yes, sir" or smiling and gesturing to our petite builds and letting it pass. (Usually men get more respect in a male-dominated field, so this could be a backhanded compliment, in a way). Perhaps try this before reporting to anyone else, and when your colleagues see that you handle the situation in a mature way, you may earn some respect.

   The talking over is another matter - that needs to be handled, and you may want to look online for videos about this. Only you know which of the responses suggested would work in your situation, but there are a number of good responses that a person can try and see what lands.

   Being the among the first female in a male-dominated field is challenging...When I graduated from college in mathematics, only 5% of my University of California cohort was female, and initially I found that same situation in the job market.

   Kudos to you - Wishing you all the best! Hang in there!