I’m a man who has exclusively worked in female-dominated spaces. All of my bosses have been women, and I have either been the only man in the room or one of two as I navigated a career starting as a fashion assistant at a major fashion magazine, all the way to being the Entertainment Director at GLAMOUR UK. And today, as I host my own podcast, Reign with Josh Smith – where a vast majority of my guests are high-profile women from Jodie Foster to Florence Pugh – my entire team is made up of women (and one man – who is great, BTW).
I truly didn’t realise how much of a privilege this was until very early into my career, when I heard of the experiences of my female friends who were working their way up the corporate ladder in workplaces filled with inappropriate comments, behaviour and, well… toxicity. My LGBTQIA+ friend’s experiences were not much different – some weren’t out at work due to fear, and one used to say absolutely nothing about his life outside of work, just in case he accidentally let it slip.
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I was shocked, as my experience of the workplace didn’t contain any inappropriate jokes or suggestions about a female colleague’s sex life or the way they dressed or conducted themselves. Everyone was able to be transparent about themselves and their lives. And in this environment, no one tried to adopt ‘masculine’ behaviours like being assertive, talking over people, or manspreading to get ahead. Those kinds of behaviours were useless, disregarded and of zero worth.
Women were welcomed back and celebrated for making personal life decisions, from having babies to getting married, and made to feel these decisions wouldn’t hold them back in any way. Instead, the environment was entirely flexible around them. Why? This summed up everything female-dominated workplaces were about: supportive, encouraging, and pushing you to be the best version of yourself just as you were. Everyone could thrive in their jobs and lives outside of their jobs, and discussions about wellbeing and mental health were welcomed.
Like in any work environment or relationship, things of course could fray, but the overall energy was about inclusion, not exclusion. As someone who was bullied at school largely by boys and even by male teachers who made inappropriate homophobic comments, to now dealing with hate online – every single one of the homophobic comments I get comes from a man – this environment was a haven for me.
