35 Occupational Hazards OF Being A Woman That Men Don’t Even Notice

Being a woman still comes with a whole set of unspoken rules and practices they’re expected to follow just to stay safe. Constant situational awareness, hyper‑alertness, and quietly calculating potential threats are the norm for many women. There are countless small deterrents women rely on that work like a charm most of the time to circumvent trouble, and are subtle enough not to accidentally antagonise anyone either. But woman to woman, they often tend to recognise these small habits instantly and understand the invisible struggles that shape another woman’s day‑to‑day life.

#1

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My husband loves being outdoors. If he could he’d spend his whole life up a mountain. One day he and his walking partner met two women on a walk in to a climb. They were obviously planning to camp while husband and his friend were just out for the day and they got chatting about what the various plans were and what they each hoped to cover.

As they got ready to go their separate ways one of the men asked the women where they were planning to camp and what the route for the rest of the day was. The women clammed up and were uncomfortable sharing that information.

My husband came home very confused and a bit offended after having such a nice conversation that these women suddenly changed and became seemingly rude.

I told him that I wouldn’t have told an unknown man where I plan to sleep either and it was ridiculous of him and his partner to expect the women to give up that information. Lessons were learned that day.

#2

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When I rode the bus regularly I never thought twice about sleeping on it. Mentioned it to a female friend and she was all “you do what now!?!?!”.

#3

Feeling like you have to manage EVERYTHING. Male partner getting angry or anxious? You better calm him down. Getting low on milk? You need to remember to stop at the store on your way home from work. Kids have an event coming up? You have to make sure they have the right clothes, props, etc and also make sure the grandparents know when and where. A relative is sick or having a birthday? Make sure you send a card, even if it’s on your husband’s side of the family. Pee stains on the toilet rim? They’re apparently invisible or unimportant to your partner, so grab the Lysol. Dog needs shots? Kids need shots? Your job, and your job. Don’t get me started on “What’s for dinner?”

My husband actually does a lot around the house, but it’s always the one-and-done stuff, like fixing a door, or the chores he views as a hobby, like lawn care. Now that we’re both retired and I’m no longer in survival mode, I’ve started explaining to him that he’s not actually doing half the work, and we’re figuring out how to make it more fair. I wish we would’ve done this earlier, but honestly when you’re in the middle of it, it seems easier to just do it yourself than to take on the additional management project of fairly allocating the work.

Image source: Mrs_Evryshot

#4

Image source: IllustriousCod5957, freepik

Men ogling, cat calling, and making disgusting comments. Starts from about 10-12 years old and it’s usually middle aged married men. That was the age I started seeing them start with my daughter too.

#5

Image source: Gold-Trade5634, Roberta Sant’Anna

Being LOOKED AT. From a young age as a girl you are being observed, watched, judged, approached, etc. It would be so nice to just be a body once in a while. To move through the world unnoticed.

I hear men complain about that sometimes, how the world isn´t nice to them or how they don´t receive compliments, but I would trade the compliments for the calm of just not being observed.

The hikes and treks I dream of, the late night walks, the bus rides full of men that would just become simple bus rides, it would all be so peaceful. To walk out of the door and not have to think about safety. The way men scan your body up and down (yes we notice) always puts me on high alert.

Dave Chapelle put it best once: he described the experience of having a load of cash with you on a NYC subway, knowing certain people would end you if they knew you had that cash. That is how it feels to be a woman, only the cash is your body and you can never leave it at home.

#6

Being constantly interrupted, dismissed, underestimated. You’re treated as less than and generally incapable as a default, and you have to prove you’re capable. I don’t see this happening to men.

Image source: hrdrv

#7

Image source: Rude-Soil-6731, Kateryna Hliznitsova

I had a boss who mentioned he liked to ask people curveball interview questions to see how they respond. One of the questions was, “what’s the first thing you do when you get in your car?” I said, “lock the doors.” He looked confused and asked why. I was taught that from a young age. And there have been 2 occasions when a stranger male has tugged at my locked car door. He was shocked. Must be nice!!!

#8

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Medical suffering that is brushed off as hysteria, even if you shove your diagnosis up their throat.

#9

Men are afraid women will laugh at them, women are afraid men will end them.

Image source: Ok-Heart375

#10

Image source: IowaJL, Getty Images

I’m a male teacher. A good one, but probably a few steps from being a great one.

The amount of times that parents and administrators will listen to me over my women colleagues is ridiculous. Friends, I’m just some jagoff that just wants your kid to listen and succeed. So does she.

#11

Image source: thebeesareescaping, Wavebreak Media

Medical gaslighting and neglect. Vast majority of issues are boiled down to weight, anxiety, stress or hormones. Anxiety is the new hysteria. If you have a severe period pain, irregular cycles, severe moodswings, youre told its normal. If you have endo or PCOS or any other issues with your reproductive organs, good luck getting taking seriously. The average time it takes for someone to get diagnosed with endometriosis is seven years. There’s more studies on male baldness than there are on reproductive issues. If all else, they recommended the pill.

And don’t even get me started on hormonal contraception. They work great with no issues for some women, sure, but informed consent is basically non existent. The list of risks and side effects that comes with is never ending. When i was a teen I went on the pill and was asked if I wanted the combined pill or mini pill, and I opted for mini pill because I’m forgetful and didn’t want to bother going a week without every month. It made me feel crappy asf so I went off but some years later I wanted to go on again and try the combined pill and was asked if I frequently have migraines which I do. She told me I can’t take it as it can cause blood clots in the brain?!?!? No one had warned me this the first time around. I’m lucky I didn’t opt for the combined pill when I first went on it. There was a 19 year old here in the UK that recently died from this. There’s so many risks to hormonal contraceptives and doctors dish them out like their sweets without telling girls and women the full risks.

Also, whenever you go to the doctors or hospital they ask if you could be pregnant. When you tell them you’re definitely not they still make you do a test. I can understand why they do it but I find the way they go about it can be humiliating at times. I once told them I haven’t done the deed in over a year and they STILL made me do a test but they didn’t have any cups so they made me do it in one of those cardboard vomit bowls hospitals have, carry it back through the waiting room and leave it in the room I was in for over half an hour.

And on the topic of pregnancy, only recently have they discovered how much the male impacts the health of the mother. Like morning sickness and pre eclampsia is due to the health of the male impacting the foetus and mother. Yet it all gets put on the mother as if it’s all entirely down to her.

Some time in the 90s did they make it a legal requirement for women to be a part of medical studies. Before then we weren’t even considered, because “our hormones make us too complicated to study on”. Toothpaste is also engineered towards men’s health. Women have either a higher or lower pH balance in our saliva (can’t remember which one sorry) so we’re more likely to suffer gum and teeth issues as a result. Seat belts are mostly designed for men (may have changed in recent years) as the crash test dummies are based on male anatomy and don’t take into account our chests or height. Women are more likely to die or have severe injuries as a result.

Theres probably so many more examples I could give, but I don’t think men could ever understand how this world has not been built for us. It’s all these inconsiderations in medicine and science that consistently hold us back a bit from the men or at it’s worst end us.

Tldr – a fat rant about medical neglect and how medicine and scientific studies don’t care about women.

#12

Creepy old men commenting on your body and touching it from a very young age. I developed curves very quickly (around 13), and since then I haven’t known peace from men over 30 (I’m 19 now).

For example, a month ago I was in the middle of getting my driver’s license and had to drive with an instructor. I wore a lower-cut top that one time (I usually wore sweats) because I was going out with a friend afterward. Guess how many comments there were about my breasts? Five. This guy is 40, has a wife, and a son my age.

Recently, a man grabbed my thigh on a bus. Random men have grabbed me by the waist in stores to move me. A teacher touched my butt “by accident” at 14. These are just some examples, I could write a whole essay. Not that guys my age are any better, but the older men are worse.

Image source: UnusualOlive3591

#13

Image source: Suitable-Rate652, freepik

Taking care not to get in a situation where you could be attacked. Keep the windows closed especially at night, check the back seat of the car before you get in, all of that.

#14

Being objectified from a young age.

I developed early, and men took that to mean it is okay to sexualise a 10 year old. I got asked as an 11 year old if I got breast implants, I was told that I could not wear normal shirts because they would draw attention to my chest, got told I look really mature for my age so it is okay if they make disgusting jokes.

A younger boy asked me if he could get nudes from me while I was also still a minor, and I was told by my own father it was normal for their age, especially towards someone with my physique.

These are just one of many examples. But the objectification starts early, and we are being blamed for the responses of others towards our body.

That is why I hate it when people say that if a women dresses a certain way, they must want the attention. Meanwhile, I would like to dress in a lot of ways that I think look cute or cool, but I don’t to avoid the responses of men and other people then telling it was my fault because I must have wanted the attention. As if I cannot just wear something because I think it looks nice, without wanting to be catcalled, stared at for too long or groped.

Image source: The_Owl_Queen

#15

The constant ‘safety GPS’ running in the back of our minds. It’s not just walking with keys between our knuckles. It’s choosing a longer route because one street has better lighting, scanning a parking lot before getting out of the car, or pretending to be on the phone so we don’t look like an ‘easy target.’ Men see a walk home; we see a tactical maneuver.

Image source: gut_user

#16

Always having to smile and “be nice.” I am an executive, I am an economist, I am an analytical professional, and yet even when doing my job if I’m neutral it will be perceived as rude.

Women are expected to be smiling and nice as our neutral position and neutral-face is interpreted as angry, moody, or harsh. It is as if we are required to be constantly be propping up and reassuring the people around us, as if we never get to stop being their mother even as we are leading hundreds of people and making billion dollar decisions.

Image source: Fatal-Eggs2024

#17

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Being gaslit when dealing with peri-menopause symptoms. Women are often told (including by their OB/GYNs) that severe pain and bleeding are normal and just deal with it. I nearly lost my wife because of this and her doctor completely missed a serious condition. Currently in the process of filing an official complaint.

#18

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Apparently women run a background threat-assessment app 24/7… meanwhile men are out here wondering if milk expires today or tomorrow.

#19

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Period poops.

They are god awful, as if cramps and bleeding weren’t bad enough.

Basically, a hormone is sent to trigger cramping to help shed the uterine lining. But, the body doesn’t always do a good job of localizing this hormone, so it can spread all around the lower torso, causing back pain and muscle spasms….also causing cramping in the stomach and colon.

#20

Trucker here.

I’ve had some lady truckers tell me that they have to pay way more attention to what truck stops they go to and have to be extra vigilant when stopping at night. Some of them have dogs with them for protection as well. This next part might be more of a convenience thing but they also have to plan bathroom breaks with more detail than guys because it’s not as easy for them to pull to the side of the road and take a leak if they had to. They also deal with a lot more slick comments from dudes who think that they should be making a sandwich instead of parking a semi.

Image source: The_Cars93

#21

Very serious stuff here, as it should be. As a man, I wanted to share a big revelation to me that I didn’t know until I dated a girl for the first time: How inconsistent clothing sizes are. Women don’t have the luxury of just “knowing” their size and being able to order online without trying it on. Also: pockets. I didn’t realize pockets were a male privilege either.

Image source: kturtle17

#22

Image source: Toinette21, b.e.a.r.ranch

I recommend the book Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez. It’s full of stuff like this, from why public transportation is more unsafe for women, to crash test dummies being designed after the average male so cars are unsafe, to the lack of “pregnant woman parking”, to women in public office being subjected to different scrutiny than the men (if you aren’t “warm” or you’re ambitious, clearly you aren’t fit for office).

It’s an eye opener for sure.

#23

The fact that if anything goes wrong, the woman will be blamed / questioned before any kind of action is taken on the perpetrator.

Creepy guy molested you? *But what were you wearing?*

Someone followed you home? *Why were you out so late at night?*

Being stalked? *What did you do to give him the wrong idea?*

Now, if anything bad ever happens, I am mentally ready with my side of the story because I know the questions will come. *I was fully clothed, I was walking in broad daylight, I didn’t make eye contact with him, I swear…* Sure would be nice to not have to preface a horrific story with, “ I didn’t do anything to antagonise them…”.

Image source: NervousSeagull

#24

Being the default in the relationship. The one who deals with all of the logistics of how the house is run, how the kids get taken care of, the family’s schedule. It’s exhausting.

Image source: beanievonbeanie

#25

Apologizing unnecessarily. My mom used to apologize anytime she was in someone’s way, despite her being there first or not even being intrusive of the space. So many women apologize for existing in a space. I used to do it until I asked myself why the hell am I apologizing for existing in this space? It’s one thing if I’m mindlessly hogging the aisle but not if I’m just standing and someone is walking by.

I never hear men apologize unnecessarily.

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#26

Image source: Riyeko, noxos

The audacity of some men to think that just because I’m a woman means I don’t know anything.

Go into a mechanic shop for a tire rotation… Try and upsell you on all kinds of stuff that you don’t need.

As a trucker it’s even worse.

I’ve had highway patrolman absolutely NOT believe that I was driving an 80,000lb semi truck *all by myself*. That one officer continued to ask me where my codriver was, and why HE wasn’t coming to the front. I not only had to get my dispatcher involved but I also had to ask for a supervisor.

I’ve had diesel mechanics tell me I didn’t know what I was talking about when it came to my truck. I even had one mechanic tell me that some truck models just lean to one direction… *completely ignoring the fact that all of the air bags on the passenger side of the cab were broken*.

I’ve been trespassed off of one property. The MHC Kenworth dealership in Oklahoma City OK. Why? Because the guy kept interrupting me, said I was stupid, called me the b word, and then in a cutesy baby voice asked me if I was on my pewiod because I was SO hormonal. I swiped everything off that freaking counter and told him if he talked to me like that again I was coming over the counter and we were BOTH going to the hospital.

#27

For a woman to be called dumb, she must be dumb once, about one thing. For a man to be called dumb, he must be dumb about absolutely everything all the time.

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#28

I complained about not having time to go for a run now it was winter. My husband was confused and suggested I go in the evenings.

He likes to run on the moors or in the deserted tracks through the woods. In his words the solitude is great for mental health and it’s fun to run with only a head torch in the dark.

It hadn’t occurred to him that that same solitude is unsettling and scary for a woman on their own. Run through the woods in the dark? It’s FUN! Yeah, we don’t live in the same world. That’s the kind of fun that means you disappear without trace as a woman and your face lives on staring out of a ‘MISSING’ poster.

Image source: orlaquiver

#29

Being treated like property of my husband by other men. My ex-husband and I were in a grocery store but he was in another aisle and this creepy old man was staring and following me. My husband finally joins me and the old man looks at him and apologizes and walks away.

Image source: insane_zen11

#30

Image source: Electric_Dark_8758, Ary Pura

When you are underage dealing with the attention of adult men and dealing with whistling and catcalling, etc., etc., and when you became attractive to the age where you can be intimately active, the same men are starting to ignore you and not understanding, like, why this is happening.

#31

Some men think that women can just bat their eyelashes and get a guys attention but it’s not true. Especially if you’re an ugly woman. Men are often dismissive of your existence or downright violent towards you if you’re ugly.

You could simply be walking towards the same door as a pretty woman and a guy will hold it open for her and let it slam in your face because you’re ugly to him. I was once threatened with violence by a coworker while we were all talking once and nobody said anything in my defense. Meanwhile a more “conventionally attractive” coworker said something similar and his reaction was friendly.

Image source: MuggseyBaloney

#32

Being taken seriously.

Having a problem? Maybe you just don’t get it. Having a health issue? Maybe the pain is in your head.
Looking nice? Just a piece of meat.
Not looking nice? Not worth anything.
Trying to communicate? Jeez she needs to talk so much.

It just never ends. Women always need to fit into the space that is made for them but are not allowed to take up the space they want or need.

Image source: Icy-Alfalfa-644

#33

The stress of needing to clean pristinely if you’ve got people coming over.

My partner didn’t really get it – we have young kids, our lives are busy. In his mind, he knew that people would extend him grace and understanding for a messy house. In his mind, his mom is chill and not that tidy herself, so why would she care if she’s coming for a visit and the floors aren’t vacuumed?

But there are studies that show that men get a pass on a messy living space, and women do not. People don’t just judge the cleanliness more harshly if a woman lives there (as in, they’ll rate the same images as messier if told a woman lives there vs a man living alone), they make harsh judgements about that woman’s personality and character (she’s disorganized, she’s lazy, she’s inconsiderate, etc.) and don’t make those same judgments about men.

So… when women are frantically cleaning because someone’s coming over, they’re not overreacting or being fussy and anxious for nothing, they’re responding to a very real social threat that men simply do not experience.

Image source: saillavee

#34

Dying more easily in cars because they’re literally not built for us. When car companies are using impact dummies to test the vehicles and all that, the dummies are usually Male. Male height, weight, frame etc so the parameters are completely different and that’s been the norm since cars were built. So when women are in the car, they bounce around it crazy in comparison to men.

Couple months back, there was a family in an accident where the father was driving, his wife next to him, his son behind him and his daughter next to his son. They were T boned on the driver side by a speeding car. Father and son walked away with some scratches. Wife and daughter had to spend a week in the hospital because one had a broken neck, one had a serious concussion etc etc.

I’ve heard that some states are lobbying for car companies to make female dummies and thus reduce injury and death for women but who knows how that’ll go.

Image source: Lunar_M1nds

#35

Probably the constant safety math in your head. Like choosing where to park, pretending to be on the phone, checking reflections, deciding how friendly is too friendly. It’s not fear all the time, it’s just background noise that never shuts off. Most guys I know are shocked when they hear how automatic that stuff is, like we don’t even think of it as “being careful,” it’s just normal life.

Image source: CarolineHart63