Women have made great strides in the employment market over the past 50 years. But many still feel that their progress is being obstructed.

A new book by feminist writer tackles the issue. In “The Fix” Michelle King, director of inclusion at Netflix, a video-streaming giant, observes that women are constantly told they need to change themselves—be more assertive, work longer hours and so on. Instead, she argues, working practices should change to accommodate the needs of half the adult population.

Despite recent progress, women still face a glass ceiling. A couple of stories in Ms King’s book illustrate the point. Sarah was an executive at a multinational who worked late, underwent management training and enthusiastically received and acted on feedback. After many years of rejection, it seemed she was due for promotion to the next tier, which was 100％ male. But at the key meeting a male executive said: “I don’t know. She has those glasses and she wears that clip in her hair.” Not exactly “scientific management”.

In the other tale Ms King, on her first day in a new job, walked into a kitchen full of men. Her boss said “Hey, Michelle, there are dishes in the sink and you are a woman, so, you know, wash them.” His colleagues laughed. When she protested, she was told to learn to take a joke. Bullying disguised as humour is still bullying. And women are expected to put up with it.

Sometimes the excuse for the lack of female progress in certain professions is that women and men naturally choose to pursue different career paths. Yet those outcomes may simply be the result of formal or informal barriers against female success. At the end of the 19th century, when only 4-5％ of American doctors were women, some men no doubt put this down to a lack of talent. In Britain women were not allowed to become practising lawyers until they were admitted to the Law Society in 1922.

Another common argument is that it makes sense for married people to specialise, with the man taking on higher paid employment and the woman doing more of the chores. It is equally far-fetched. One study, for instance, found that husbands who earn less than their wives do even less housework than those who earn more.

Many of the arguments that women’s lack of progress is down to talent or choice look like a convenient fiction for men, who do rather well out of the bargain. Women, who end up doing most of the chores as well as working long hours, get a raw deal. It is not them who need to change—it is the attitudes of men.

The male executive’s remark in Paragraph 3 is used to indicate________.