Quick question

I know I said quick, however..

During my internship I had this mansplaining colleague that I kind of couldn’t stand. On several occasions, he made statements such as, ‘You’re so lucky you’re a woman.’

He told this one story several times of how he was late to hand in a school assignment, but because he was late with a classmate who was female, the male lecturer allowed him to submit his paper.

Quick diversion..

I read this book, ‘the art of seduction’ a few years ago, and in many more words, it talked about this: what kind of power is it, if it’s dependent on someone else finding you attractive?

Another quick diversion..

Towards the end of uni, this friend of mine told me about how the married boss at the job she’d just gotten (which she was really excited about and had been updating me on continuously during the hiring process), kept cornering her in the elevator, in his office, until he finally forced his lips on her, after which she didn't return to the job. (And I know everyone reading this has heard a similar story)

(I promise I’m making a point..)

The industry I’m trying to break into right now is heavily dependent on who you know, and who you’ve been good to..

So my question is this,

What would men have us do:

Reject help from people we know are only helping us ‘because we’re women’ and ‘they find us attractive’, hence reject the  helping hand to advance our careers?

Orrrr,

Take the help, knowing fully well said help comes with all sorts of strings, but get to advance our careers?

I need an answer for real.