My boss used to be friendly. Compliments. Jokes. Always telling me how “refreshing” I was. Then one day he asked if I was seeing anyone. I said yes. His tone changed after that. Meetings stopped including me. My ideas suddenly needed “more polishing.” A month later, my performance review dropped. Same work. Same results. New criticism. I realized it wasn’t about my work. It was about access. So I updated my résumé. Two weeks later, I resigned. He called, confused. “I didn’t think you’d take it that far.”
Men who punish women for boundaries always expect us to stay.
That’s the mistake.