Career Advice Career Doctor

Hard choice looms over office sexism

 

I work in a male-dominant environment. My male colleagues use subtle jokes and innuendos, referring to clients in gender-based derogatory terms. It sometimes seems like they forget I’m there. They act worse out of the office at business lunches and dinners. And when I told them kindly that I didn’t like it, they thought I was joking. So I told them seriously – dead silence and isolation followed. I don’t want to come across as an aggressive, easily offended feminist, but talking to my boss and HR is not an option. How do I get along with them in a nice but assertive way?