I don’t think Allison ever implied in this piece that a cleaner is lesser-than, from what I’ve gathered reading the article. The feeling I got reading this is simply the frustration when people and especially men jump to conclusions when they see a woman who looks a certain way, and immediately assume she is in a gender-specific position or job. He could just as well have mistaken her for a secretary, which again is not a lesser-than job. But what’s upsetting is having the guts to not only assume something but also tell that person out loud *and* insist on your mistake. Like this guy was clearly not taken aback by his monumental gaffe, he kept reveling in it. At least that’s how I understood the entire situation☺