It’s August, It’s 2016, Let’s Just Acknowledge the Office A/C Issue

Certain facts, no matter how well-established, are always being contested by those who think that just because they themselves do not understand or experience them, that they are not, in fact, facts. Some people believe racism is overblown because they don’t experience it personally. People used to insist that the Earth is flat because, you know, it seems flat enough when you walk around on it.

Because it is August, this is your reminder that the standard office air-conditioning is indeed sexist. It just is. You can read all about it here, and here, and here, and here. Really. Each of these hyperlinks will show you more people agreeing as to why it’s sexist, and also can be bad for your health. I am literally just typing extra sentences at this point to fit in all the hyperlinks.

Women’s body temperature tends to be naturally lower than is men’s, and the standard office temperature—determined in the 1960s by, duh, men—has remained antiquated, even as other areas of the workplace have come around to the idea that men and women deserve things in equal measure (obviously not everything).

In fairness, of course, #notallmen are warmer than every female colleague, but look around your office and you’re pretty much guaranteed to find the broader trend holding true. The outdated system of thermostat control is to blame, but of course dress codes play a role—women are often pressured to wear sleeveless office dresses and fewer layers than men. Men, with their higher core temperatures, must in turn reckon with a culture that deems shorts unacceptable for most offices, so the lesson here is basically that we should all stay home, where we can choose our comfort.

Good thing women’s winter is almost over.