I have been an attorney for ten years and recently joined the largest firm in my area. As a woman, it is not easy being taken seriously by other male attorneys. They often look down on you and treat you like their personal slaves or someone not worthy of their time and effort. The firm I joined is a regional powerhouse with big name lawyers. The kind you see on TV winning billion-dollar settlements. One of the partners is a guy in his early 40's named Mitchell. Mitchell is a defense attorney, the guy that must defend against plaintiffs' suits. He has a fearsome reputation for being the biggest, toughest asshole that has ever walked the earth. Grown men shudder when he comes up against them in the courtroom. Many cases immediately settle when he gets attached to them. In the legal community he is known as the "emasculator." If you are against him in court, he will cut your genitals off and shove them down your throat. Mitchell was now my new boss.
He was not very thrilled meeting me. I am a tiny brunette that on a good day is five foot two inches tall and about 110 lbs. Although I am in my mid-thirties, people think I am still in college. In fact, when I go out for a drink I get carded every time and then get the fake ID look from the bartender. Yes, I am small but I am a fireball. I have always had to fight for everything I have ever gotten. I love to argue, which makes me a good attorney.
My first couple of weeks at the firm I did my best to get oriented to the hierarchy of the place. It did not take long to realize that Mitchell was the Alpha dog and everyone else was his bitch. In meetings, he ran over people like a freight train. It did not take long before he started talking down to me too. Well, that was not going to happen more than once as far as I was concerned. Each time he would bark at me, I would bark back. If I thought he was wrong, I would tell him that. The room would fall silent and everyone's eyes would hit the floor in expectation of the blow back. Oh, and that blowback would happen in spades. It did not take more than a minute to realize that he did not want, nor need my opinion, however, I was going to give it whether he wanted it or not.
Mitchell was right 100% of the time because he would berate people into submission. When I would prove him wrong, he would defend himself by being a sexist asshole. He would make comments like, "you should be taking care of babies and not bothering me" or "with your looks, why aren't you married and taking care of a husband by now" and my all-time favorite "you are a bitchy one, it is going to be fun to break you and make you, my bitch." Yup, the EEOC was built and designed for this guy. A misogynist pig with a superiority complex. Could I sue him and win? Fuck yes, many millions of dollars would come my way very quickly. Did I sue him? Hell no, I am a fighter and I made it my mission to put him in his place.
Months passed and Mitchell and I battled it out. Many on the staff secretly would stop by my office and say that they loved our arguments. He had beat them down so much that they saw me as a Joan of Arc figure. They were secretly routing for me to win.
As much as we fought, I noticed some subtle cues from Mitchell. Our first meetings were from across the table from each other. Our meetings now were always at a 90-degree angle, where he could see my whole body. When I crossed my legs, Mitchell would often get distracted and lose his train of thought. When I realized that, I began to use it against him. Certain footwear would throw him off more than others. I quickly discovered that when I wore my five-inch black pumps, he would really get distracted. However, one day, it was very cold out and the weather was horrible, so I wore some black lace up boots. We had a meeting and when I sat down, he began to look very uncomfortable. As the meeting ended, he asked me to stay behind for a private conversation.
As the door closed, he looked down and pointed at my boots and asked me if I thought that they were appropriate for work at a law firm. I said that I did and asked him what he thought. He said that they were not appropriate for work and that it was something I should wear out on a date. I decided to get cheeky and I asked him if he like women who wore boots on a date. To my surprise and amazement, his face turned beet red. For the first time, he was speechless. At that point I realized my Alpha dog, asshole boss had a foot fetish. He stood there sputtering, so I pushed the issue. I turned my leg to show my boots off to him. I acted innocent and did my best to play to his now obvious fetish. Mitchell became flustered and immediately dove into his seat behind his desk to hide the bulge forming in his very expensive suit.
At this point I broke the nuclear code envelope and turned both keys to launch the rockets. I looked sweetly at him and told him I have a bunch of boots and if he ever wanted to see them all he had to do was ask. I then turned and said that if there was nothing more, I had work to do, then left. Ha ha, I had found the small crack I had been looking for to break him. I returned to my office, shut the door, and began to work on some files. About a half hour passed before there was a knock on the door. Mitchell's assistant said that he needed to meet with me and a client after work at a fancy restaurant near the office. I accepted the offer and put it on my schedule.
I arrived at the restaurant at seven to find Mitchell already there and waiting for me. The hostess took us to the table. It was a table for two. I asked Mitchell what happened to the client and he said they had cancelled. I saw right through his ruse but said nothing. We sat down and began some small talk. Mitchell drilled me about why I was still single. I explained that I had been in a long-term relationship but we had different goals in life. My former boyfriend never wanted to leave our hometown. When I took the job at my new firm I had to move. He did not want to go with me, so it ended.