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People who are being sexist usually don't think they're being sexist - they don't usually have "ill intent." See the first comment in that thread for someone's

• mthoms 10y ago
  Of course. But the corollary to that is just because someone interprets something as sexist doesn't automatically make it sexist. Given an ambiguous statement, people can (and should) judge the statement based on context, and that includes perceived intent of the speaker. Human communication is much more than just words. Context and intent absolutely matter. IMHO, everyone should be given the benefit of the doubt when dealing with such serious allegations. Or, as they say innocent until proven guilty. I wouldn't want to work in a place, or live in a society that believes otherwise. There simply needs to be a higher burden of proof than "it's sexist because I felt it was sexist". Can it be considered sexist to say what was said? Sure. Should it be considered sexist by default? I don't think that's been proven.