My ex boss told me “I only hired you because you're a woman. I provide a safe space for you, and you know the alternative to that.”
The conversation came up because he was putting some overly strict regulations on me that I told him I didn't sign up for when I got the job initially, and that was his response.
I also pointed out he didn't have the same standards for my male coworker. For example he claimed I didn't care about my job because occasionally I was a few minutes late (I was an independent contractor so I wasn't paid hourly and only showed up for set business hours on my own volition) but he hadn't even noticed that my coworker was over an hour late that same day he was criticizing me. I asked him why I was getting criticized while my coworker was over an hour late, and he hadn't even realized it. He claimed he didn't realize it was my coworkers turn to open, and said that it was none of my concern.
I should be old enough to know, you don't get rewarded for pointing out blatant, (probably sexist) double standards, you get fired.
My coworker hated me too after that, because now my boss started to treat him the same way he treated me bc he realized his sexism/favoritism/preferential treatment was obvious. My coworker tolerated the equal treatment for less than a week before quitting, and I was fired immediately after.
I say my coworker hated me, because he actively got my fired from my next job (claimed it wasn't personal, I just wasn't “good enough” to work in the same shop as him, and since he was hired first, I was let go. I do know my quality of work is just as competent as the next person they hired though, go figure.)
But hey, I should have been “grateful” to work in an environment where I wasn't sexually harassed, and been “grateful” to have a job where I was only hired because I'm a woman lol.