International Women's Day: Lessons from watching and re-watching 'The Office US'

Jim had a thing for Pam since the very start when she was engaged to Roy from the warehouse. The first few episodes hinted just perfectly that Jim will or probably already has fallen for the clueless Pam. When he does confront her of his feelings towards her in the Casino Night episode, Pam, though confused, chooses to only stay friends with Jim. Jim, though going extremes, respects her decision and moves cities. Jim, throughout his time with Pam, gives her space to make the right call for her good. And she does that and both of them end up together.

The women of Dunder Mifflin had to endure a pretty constant stream of comments about the way they looked. No matter if they were considered attractive or unattractive, young or old, conservative in dress or more relaxed, they always heard about how they looked from the men. There were comments about if they wore too much makeup or not enough, comments about if they looked hot or not, and comments about their outfits. This kind of talk is inappropriate for a professional setting, and just generally rude to say to anyone ever. So take note, don’t say such things.

That’s what she said might be the most well-known and quoted joke from The Office, but there are issues with how Michael Scott used it. While in certain contexts, the joke could be funny, there were other times when his use of the joke bordered on sexual harassment. This joke combined with other instances where Michael made female employees uncomfortable shows that Michael needed to learn how to show respect for women

Along with all of the sexual harassment that the women of Dunder Mifflin encounter, they also deal with a lot of slut-shaming. Some of this comes from the men in the office and some of it comes from other women. Pam is one character who gets slut-shamed for what she does, even if she’s not promiscuous. Meredith also deals with a lot of comments about her sex life. The show teaches men to not act this way around women.

While there are many instances when the male characters of the show have mistreated women, yet the successfully managed to show has given us nine seasons of cringe-worthy laughs. And of course, the show has a self-aware comedy about bad workplace behavior which is exactly what makes it so funny. There was a specially dedicated episode – Women’s Appreciation in season three, which in a way, does teach us to appreciate their contributions in our lives. The incidences, ironic to the show’s name gives away so much one must not do around women.