I’m part of a university club executive, and we recently held a general meeting for all our members. The executive members sat at the front to moderate the discussion with our president, Trisha*, directing the proceedings.
Unfortunately, the one male member of our executive had a hard time letting her take charge.
He consistently talked over her, picked who would speak next, and answered questions directed at her. Often the information he provided was incorrect, and Trisha was better able to answer the questions.
Not only did his behaviour undermine our presence as an executive and make the meeting harder to run, it was incredibly disrespectful to Trisha, and the rest of the female voices of the executive who knew when to keep our mouths shut.
He’s a friend of mine. I’m sure he would be embarrassed and ashamed if his behaviour were brought to his attention (and trust me, if this happens again it will be.) But the fact that these actions felt natural to him - the fact that he didn’t stop and consider the way he was silencing Trisha - speaks to how often boys find themselves the sole speaker in a group and don’t consider what part they’ve played in creating that dynamic.
*not our real names
Lucy submitted this to