By Alicia D’Arcy, Features Sub-Editor
Dear Agony Ibis,
Whenever we have class discussions in this one tute, there are two or three guys who often talk over me when I’m in the middle of answering a question. How do I deal with this?!
Yours Sincerely,
Frustrated girl
—
Dear Frustrated girl,
Ah, my fave: when your explanation is interrupted by someone who can explain it oh-so-much better by virtue of him having a dick and deeper voice. Didn’t you know that you really just need to “stand up for yourself more” because, you know, it’s an ibis eat ibis world out there, right???
There are a couple of things you can do with men who suffer from an ego-competency mismatch. You could take the “respectful” route. To do so, you plaster your face with that super-charming-I’m-very-likeable-even-though-I’m-a-girl smile you usually reserve for your homophobic grandparents and say, “Excuse me, could you please let me finish my sentence?”
The other, potentially more effective and acceptable-by-the-standards-of-the-patriarchy strategy is to sneakily let your tutor know that you feel you’re being talked over. You could even talk to the boys in person to let them know how you feel.
Of course, all of this involves being a big girl and navigating the situation with delicacy and a heightened emotional intelligence (because women are good at that).
In my personal, ibis, opinion, you should just pour bin juice over their heads while you explain that their opinions are not as important as their ego tells them.
Birds of a feather flock together, girl.
Yours in solidarity,
Agony Ibis