There are times to apologize. And there are times not to apologize.
In this video which we are sadly forbidden to embed, comedian Amy Schumer offers a look at gendered, excessively self-negating, unnecessary, reflexive ladypologies.
Given that research indicates that being perceived as assertive is problematic for women, and women are constantly expected to be yielding…is it any wonder that women tend to apologize for merely…being?
IT’S FUNNY BECAUSE IT’S TRUE.
When I received, at the close college, my 8th grade homeroom teacher’s personal assessment of me – for which I of course did not ask – she said that I would amount to much in life if I could prune the word “Okay” from my vocabulary.
I think uprooting the word “Sorry” and salting the field would have been much better advice. It is hideously reflexive and addictive and the more you hear it sometimes, the worse it gets… And is it sincere? Is it actual apology? Or an “excuse me for being alive?”
UGH.