[asimov42]

That hula hoops bit was a bit... strange. If it were a couple of attractive girls I probably would also find myself staring. I mean, its just not something you see everyday working at an office. I understand being stared at is uncomfortable too, and they should feel free to do whatever they want of course. It just sounds like how unattractive people "stare creepily" while attractive people "look."

[theorique]

Watching your co-workers as they hula-hoop in the office doesn't sound terribly sexist or out of the ordinary [1]. Hula hooping in the office is offbeat enough that you'd expect people to stop and look And it's certainly not the some kind of 'last straw' sexist incident.

Obviously, what happened is that Horvath was already upset from the weirdness that had transpired thus far - and based on the article, it does sound pretty weird.

Because of this she read a lot of 'meaning' into the hula-hooping that just wasn't there. It's hard to see how this situation could be a last straw otherwise.

[1] i.e. "hula hooping in the office" is out of the ordinary ... watching something out of the ordinary is normal

[RodericDay]

It could easily have been there. Stop being condescending.

A lot of "normal" interactions between men and women are fraught with creepy weirdness due to the way we're socialized. This is well studied, even if you find the conclusions of those researchers unpalatable.

[facepalm]

I think it's a problem if women (or men) start dishing out accusations from projecting something into other people's faces. "They looked leery" - what sort of accusation is that? All bets are off if such a thing is held up as evidence for sexism.

There is a famous early cinema experiment which cuts the same closeup of a face with three different scenes (don't remember, I think a funeral, something to eat, whatever). Each time the viewer interprets a different emotion into the face (sad, or hungry, or yearning, or whatever).

[yawboakye]

She chose to be upset by falsely matching male co-workers watching (I don't want to use her word, gawking, because it's her subjective conclusion) safe-to-assume attractive female co-workers "hula hooping in the office." Especially none of her business if the girls were aware they had the attention of the gentlemen. Who knows, they may have appreciated the attention.

[Myrmornis]

Absolutely agree.

  Until you spoke
  And showed me understanding is a dream
  "I hate these people staring
  Make them go away from me"

The Cure "How Beautiful You Are"