Too Many Dicks on the Dance Floor

 There is nothing one can do to change these sexist old fuckers. Nothing. They are cast in stone. What one can do is stay in the game. That is punishment enough for them, just to have to deal with an annoyance who won't go away. You know they won't listen to you, they simply don't hear what you have to say. It doesn't stick, they don't remember it, they attribute it to someone else. So you surround yourself with people they will listen to. You select men that they listen to and respect, bring them into the conversation. You deliver the message and when they react adversely, stare at you as if you have 2 heads, look blankly at you because they did not register what you said, you que one of the respectable men to repeat it. You are not a player in the game, rather, you are moving chess pieces around in order to make things happen. It requires a great deal of planning and relationship building in order to develop a cadre of respected men who are willing to play this role when needed. 

I'm told that this is not good enough, this kind of thing is holding women back. I should be calling these guys out. That is, honestly, the worst possible thing one can do in these situations. It doesn't work, it shuts down all future conversation, and you need to do enough to stay in the conversation in order to advance whatever it is you want to do. Sure, you feel like you are selling yourself. You take hits and personal attacks, you learn how to deftly sidestep the passive aggressive insults and outlandish requests designed to make you look incompetent. You swallow all that and go home to be told you are stymieing the feminist agenda. You are just holding your place, that's all.