A demand too far?

Ridiculous. I've worked in many offices with just a couple of men and lots of women. Our male colleagues had all the kitchen chats about relationships at the depth women tend to go into and not men. Even periods, pregnancy and childbirth followed by menopause.

Furthermore, I've also worked with women who love football and rugby and love talking about it. If you think about it, there's a sexist assumption that women aren't into sport.

When there are so many things to be genuinely concerned about in this world, why descend to such a petty level? People will become more and more hostile to such advice and that could end up applying to things which ARE important.

My next door neighbour goes into seclusion when tennis tournaments are on. Her dogs are walked earlier or later, to fit into the schedule, and woe betide any casual callers! Her whoops of joy or despair can be heard through our very thick walls.
If I run into her the conversation is almost solely about who beat whom and any upcoming matches. Ban the subject, and she would be tongue-tied.
I agree, though, that conversations should be tailored so that no-one feels excluded for any length of time.

Oh god what next, - I'm getting truly sick to the back teeth with all this nonsense. For crying out loud why can't the do-gooders stop finding offence in everything anyone does??

When I started work in an office back in the early 60s there was no chatting at all, by anyone! Only at break (1) and lunch time was there any social verbal interaction We were there to work and woe betide anyone who disobeyed the supervisor. Perhaps that's what should happen. As for now, this person's idea is mad.

notanan2, are you sure that the visiting senior was trying to exclude or was he just someone who lacked the insight to see what he was doing? Or maybe he was just not very good at small talk but latched onto something he could talk about.
I know when watching my son play hockey, I sometimes got stuck with a group of fathers who would converse about any sport that was currently in vogue and I would feel slightly excluded because I knew nothing about those sports. However, I know that they weren't trying to exclude me, they just weren't trying to include me. They were also just making the sort of conversation they were interested in rather than what I was interested about.
I think we all have to be aware of others but better to educate people as they are growing up rather than dictating to them when they are adults. Should my ASD grandson ever get to work in an office environment, I hope the rest of the group are prepared to listen to endless facts about animals to the exclusivity of any other conversation.

I hate sport and find it tedious. However, I hate curtailment of freedom and authoritarian edicts more.

The current fad for salami slicing the freedoms and rights of others is truly frightening.

Having been brought up by a rugby-loving father and 'educated' by a cricketing DS, I've always been quite prepared to join in any discussion of these games. I'd have thought that tennis would be non-exclusive as I have known many other women who have been just as keen to talk about it as I have. Many of us have been known to play tennis too. I have half an eye on the TV at the moment, watching the Australian Open.

This afternoon we’ve talked about trains, the uselessness of tradesmen who don’t bother to turn up, the men have had a jolly old time talking about how badly they’re treated by their wives, ha ha ha!

We’ve touched on last nights Silent Witness, UPVC versus wooden front doors, temporary traffic lights everywhere, Nothing controversial today.

It doesn’t surprise me in this ridiculously politically correct world.

Meghan and Harry. (sorry, couldn't resist.)

I'm not interested in sport at all, most of it bores me stiff. Maybe with the exception of the Olympics, when Mo Farah does that thing he does where he's lying last and then overtakes all the others, that I find exciting and some of the other track events. My husband plays golf, loves talking about that, we've been together over 35 years and I've still no idea what he's talking about. He and our sons follow West Ham, one in particular will phone as sure as night follows day after a match to speak to his dad so they can analyze the whole boring 90 minutes or however long a match lasts. No idea why they care so much, if they lose it isn't tragic no one dies! I just zone out. My husband also has a reasonable interest in rugby and tennis, again don't give a whatever!

Talk away, perhaps make sure womens' toilets remain just that, so those like me can escape occasionally from such interminable boring topics. I defend their right to talk about it though. In the words of Pink Floyd "Hey Head of Chartered Management Institute, leave them men alone"

Doodledog I have no intention of cross examining anyone. Sorry you feel like that, I've felt somewhat "attacked" myself. From not having learned how to behave in kindergarden onwards.

Big Brother at its best!

What about al the female sports commentators - Gaby Roslin and the rest?

That was to janipat.

Good grief! It feels like being cross examined on here today.

I've seen courtroom dramas where people have had less scrutiny of their every remark .

No I agree, of course it’s not sexist to talk about sport, one of our ladies joins in the rugby conversations very enthusiastically.

I can see if there were three of us, and you and I spent an hour talking about Chinese poetry, that would be very rude, it would also be very one sided, because I don’t know anything about it.

I can’t think of any truly single sex topics. Maybe menstruation? Menopause? Not many anyway.

Doodledog of course the examples you've just given would be totally unacceptable, and just plain ignorant behaviour. But that wasn't what this thread started about was it? That's about not talking in the office about subjects which don't include everyone each time. That concept is, in my opinion, unworkable.

Daft!

Sarah65 I wouldn't feel excluded by that at all. I would find someone else to talk to.

I was simply making a point that it is not sexist to talk about sport (or anything else) as there are very few single-sex topics. Do you disagree with that?

I also said that short conversations are fair game, but who would think it ok to talk for an hour about a topic that exceeded one person? Off the top of my head, something like when you and I went for our holiday together, or our mutual interest in Chinese poetry, when the other person at the table was unable to take part. Is that so controversial?

Janipat

I agree, we drift in and out of conversations all day, don’t like one, start another one.

I still wish someone would tell me these subjects of conversations that will include everybody. Surely (well in the workplaces I've been) people have a conversation about something of mutual interest, and then someone who had no interest in that raises a new subject and a new combination of people take part. But I can't honestly remember many occasions where everybody joined in with the one conversation, often there'd be 2 or 3 going on at once. Just like at any social gathering I've been to where people drift from group to group, joining new conversations.

Doodledog

You would surely have to be hugely sensitive to feel excluded because your co workers were discussing Eastenders, and you don’t watch it.

If I felt excluded ever time the conversation turned to Line of Duty, which I have never seen, I’d be an emotional wreck!

So the speech police are at it again.
Bring common sense back into this world and free speech.
Totally ridiculous.

Some people learn this in kindergarden, some dont so it needs to be "managed"