Secretaries On Screen: Secretly The Most Important Person In The Office | Trope Explained

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Secretaries and personal assistants are the nurses of the corporate world.

Also when you're the only woman in a team of men... you become the Hermione or "serious mom" of the group... which can become exhausting af

The 80's Twilight Zone has an episode where a downtrodden Secretary ends up in a parallel universe where secretaries are treated akin to models, and everyone is impressed when she admits that she's one. It's a nice subversion of the usual clichés, and she's able to cultivate her own happy ending.

I loved how in Suits, Donna was not only always the one keeping the firm together, but other characters actually acknowledged it, and when they didn't give her the respect she knew she deserved, she fought back. Plus, she worked her way up and earned the position of COO.

I'm the administrator/secretary/receptionist/janitor/repairman/therapist/solver of everyone's problems at my office. Most days, it feels like I'm a single mom to 20 adults who can't do damn thing for themselves 🙄

Sue of veep is the coldest, most savage and the best secretary

Admin assistant. Every single one of these issues happened this morning

I use to work as an Administrative Assistant a couple of years ago and all of these problems I experienced myself. Unfortunately, I also experienced racism as well when I use to work in the office. It really sucks to not be respected even when you exceed expectations, be berated and treated like your nothing, be harassed by jealous coworkers who will do anything to get the promotion, passed up for promotions despite being one of the top performers, cursed out by customers over company policies that you didn’t create, and deal with racism from customers. I’m just glad I work from home now and I’m working in a different field that doesn’t involve me being on the phone. I feel more appreciated now and I’m finally rewarded for my hard work. I will never go back to the office and customer service ever again.

as a secretary myself I love the fact that you made this video 😂

“Sue, did the president call?” “…no.”

Etta Candy was a great subversion of this trope. She had some of the classic signifiers, but really stood in her own right, despite her limited screen time.

Hello. Thank you for this video and for calling them "secretaries". Secretary is not an offensive or insulting word. It's my job. It's an important job and can be difficult. Also, anyone who thinks that we can be completely replaced by an AI thing, does not understand our job in the slightest.

MAD MEN reminded me of my dad, always wore a suit to work. And my mom was in a stamp pool early in her CPA career. I've worked in many offices for varied companies. Retired as Asst. Director of Multicultural Center for 23 years. Yes, we KNEW everyrhing!!!!🤐🤐🤐🤐

I worked as a secretary for a little over a year and people who do that job deserve the world

Phone operators, men, got drunk at lunch, and were rude to callers, fired often. So women were brought into operator jobs.

I read an Australian ABC article on a woman transitioning to a man. They said they no longer got asked to do 'admin' work, like take notes, or organise lunch, or get coffees for everyone. It was a really eye opening article on unconcious gender roles in the workplace

My favorite TV secretaries/assistance/ go-fers: Miss Hathaway - The Beverly Hillbillies, Janine Melnitz - The Real Ghostbusters, Jennifer Marlowe - WKRP in Cincinnati, Crystal Smith - Dead Like Me, Scooter - The Muppet Show.

I always thought I had the skills of an assistant and a secretary and it’s always the aesthetic and idea of working at an office that attracts me.

most bosses do like 3 things a day that take forever and 2.5 go nowhere