How women handle `sweetie' sexism

During a recent presentation to woo businesswoman Beth Kljajic asa new client, the head of an accounting firm continually referred tothe "girls in my office."

"I finally stopped him and asked, `How old are the people inyour office?' " said Kljajic, owner of Choice for Temporaries inChicago. "I thought maybe he was using high school kids."

He wasn't. He was referring to women who had graduated fromcollege as "girls."

Kljajic ended the interview there.

"I didn't see how I could work" with his firm, she said.

As a business owner, Kljajic had the power to stop the interviewand point out the sexism. When she confronted similarly …