BookBeast:

On that note, I believe sexism still exists, but mostly not in the outright "women belong in the kitchen and the bedroom" fashion. It tends to be more insidious than that - i.e., a man asserting himself is fine, but when a woman does it, she's a bitch - especially among men who honestly believe they are too smart to be sexist.

I think there's an unspoken thought, also, that the man is still the primary breadwinner - whether he's there or not.

Back when WWII ended, women were lucky to hold on to their Rosie the Riveter jobs and not have them given to returning GIs because the GIs had "families to support".

This line of thinking carries over to today, where if a woman is married, there's the unspoken assumption that her husband makes equal if not more than her (is the breadwinner). If the woman is not married, there is the unspoken assumption that (especially if she has kids) she's getting a nice fat spousal/child support check every month so in either case, she doesn't need it as much as the man does. The idea that the woman could be the sole support of a family is still a new idea to many.

As an employer of a predominantly male crew, I have learned that no matter how sweetly you present a request, you will be called the b-word or be accused of having PMS. That's all the ammo they got? I'm bulletproof by now, baby.