She had me until the very end, with the anecdote about the guy apologizing for swearing in front of her.<p>I would apologize if I said &quot;fuck&quot; near my country&#x27;s president, or even the president of my small-ish company. Both of whom are male. It&#x27;s a sign of respect. In the context of women, I see it in a similar light to holding the door open for a lady. It isn&#x27;t me assuming she&#x27;s too weak to open a door, it&#x27;s just a common courtesy.<p>I&#x27;m genuinely sorry that the author was offended by the guy apologizing for saying &quot;fuck&quot; near her. I can&#x27;t speak for him, and perhaps he was a total douchebag. But perhaps he was aware that on average men can be more crude than women, and in a professional (male-dominated, numerically speaking!) setting like that one, it&#x27;s prudent to avoid language that could make people feel uncomfortable.