Jess and Cece called out the patriarchy so hard on New Girl, and you tell ’em, ladies

At one point or another, most women have (likely) felt that they weren’t given their due or recognized for their worth in the workplace — or hell, weren’t even paid enough for equal work. It’s a sad reality, and that’s why it’s so important that we talk about it, which is *exactly* what New Girl did this week — with its signature humor, of course.

In New Girl‘s “Tuesday Meeting,” Jess accepts Russell’s job offer to run his education-based non-profit, but the thing is, he isn’t actually letting her run it; he’s just giving her busy work, instead of any real responsibility, and it gets to the point where Jess tells Cece that she’s about to quit.

Cece couldn’t believe that the job turned out this way, that Jess is being seriously undervalued — and frankly, we couldn’t either.

Because, hello, Jess is a T-R-E-A-S-U-R-E and is not to be undervalued.

"Wait, so you're saying that you're doing Russell's busy work? You, Jessica Day, former principal of an entire school are doing his busy work? Nah girl."

Not only that, but Russell had apparently been leaving Jess out, working closely with some male colleagues he really trusts — and excluding her from his Tuesday meetings, which she was never invited to, but some of the guys from the office were.

Cece recognized that as an unfortunate reality that’s all too real for a lot of working women.

"Babe, every woman has a 'Tuesday meeting' they haven't been invited to," she said. "How many times in your life have you been excluded from something important or talked over or ignored because you're the only woman in the room?"

She also recalled when her co-workers didn’t respect her need to pump (for baby Ruth), and Jess remembered when her input in a previous role was flat-out looked over; and even worse, her male colleagues took credit for her thoughts and suggestions! Like I said, it’s a very unfortunate reality.

But this time, Jess wasn’t about to let it slide.

No, no, no. Instead, she — and a drunken and overly caffeinated Cece, and #bless — busted into Russell’s Tuesday meeting, and called him out.

"I've let this slide too much in my life, but no more. You may not want me in this meeting, but I belong here." And when he said he isn't sure she does, she responded with: "Too late, Russell. I'm busting in. You think just because I'm a woman I can't bring anything to the table? Well try me, because I'm pulling up a chair and I'm getting in the game."

YOU TELL ‘EM JESS. Only thing is, that actually wasn’t her place, seeing as the meetings are for Russell’s divorced father support group, but we respect the enthusiasm! And we respect the way she adjusted her call out.

She revealed that she was ready to quit because she knows she can make a difference for schools in need, but he has to let her help. “I know I was wrong about the meeting, but you have to admit, you haven’t given me any real work to do. Why is that? Do you not think of me as an equal? Because if that’s the case, that needs to change.”

For Russell, that’s far from the case. In fact, he hired her because he thought she could actually make a difference. Turns out her new employee status and his trust issues were the things getting in the way, but he’s not going to get in her way anymore — it’s time for her to do real work.

We couldn’t be any prouder of Jess, with support from Cece, for standing up for herself. It isn’t easy, but it’s so important — and we’re so glad New Girl is drawing attention to women’s struggles in the workplace.