We have black-lined blackout curtains. I said, hey, I think black curtains warm a room, and I know it gets hot in here in the summer, so maybe we should get white ones instead. He says no, these curtains work to keep it cooler in here. If you stick your hand behind this curtain in the summer it’s super hot back there.
Next day I google it because I am unconvinced by this argument. I read several sources, and my stance seems to be confirmed: white material will reflect the light, black material will absorb it. He called our curtains blackout curtains, so I give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he didn’t realize that not all blackout curtains are going to reflect the light because they don’t all have the white panel on the inside. I send him a message saying that I think we may have gotten the wrong kind, the ones recommended for heat reduction have a white panel sewn inside and ours do not.
He responds by sending me the amazon listings for our curtains (which do claim that the curtains help with insulation and keeping the room cooler), telling me that he did “extensive research” before buying these curtains and understands that black material “absorbs heat.” And to take it up with someone else if I have further questions about the “efficacy” of our curtains.
For context, I work at a small non-profit, and this is not the first time I’ve felt like he was talking down to me because I am female.
Am I wrong about these goddamn curtains? Does this read as sexist?