Well I now have a bodyguard, sort of.

They promoted someone from another department to work with me and handle more of the "technical" product stuff. This is someone SO and I actually like (J) and socialize with after hours, we get along well and he's not a bad pick for the job. Of course they sprung all this on me last week in a department meeting without any warning, so of course I never got to offer my own thoughts on the matter. I wouldn't have vetoed their choice if they'd actually asked me, but they didn't bother.

Anyway, the three of us had dinner last night (J and SO had already worked out what they were going to tell me). J really really wants me to stay, is excited about working with me in this new role, and proposed acting as a buffer between me and the rest of the department. He's big and very male, so the women (mostly) who have been picking on me middle-school-style will undoubtedly behave quite differently with him than they do with me.

That could work. The bosses will undoubtedly go for it and make him the "team lead", which may also satisfy one of the guys who has always had problems working with "sentient females" and is always looking for reasons to get rid of me. I'm not a "girly girl" with dresses and makeup and heels, I'm kinda more soft butch/artsy, which causes the smart guys to get a giant crush on me, and completely weirds out the not so smart ones, not to mention the "normal females".

So, I'll give this a try.