I was always the kind of person to actively seek out the boys club and infiltrate it. I'm not the kind of girl who plays football and is into guy things, but I can swear with the rest of them and go out of my way to challenge my skills and their notions of me. As an adult this translated into a career working backstage in theatre (traditionally a man's job) as a scenic carpenter (the job that the Men's Men of any theatre do) building sets. I think it's important for women to go out and claim the traditionally male roles, and prove all the naysayers wrong who claim that women want equality but don't want to have the "real tough jobs" that men still predominantly hold. In fact despite never touching carpentry until three years ago I come from a family of carpenters and was never taught how to do it because I was the "baby" of the extended family. I'd be lying if I said I didn't resent my relatives for never fostering the latent skills I have for this profession.
I'm currently apprenticing in my first shop in a conservative Canadian province and wondering about the benefits and disadvantages of this choice. No one is hostile and no one has underestimated my skills, all three of the apprentices are treated equally and I'm at the bottom of the ladder simply because that's where I am at this point in my career. After a long struggle, I've achieved a comfortable balance with my femininity in my personal life, but on the other hand I'm not sure how to apply it professionally. I'm always the last person the men in the shop ask for help when their lifting heavy things, and as a petite 5'1" woman I can't always blame them. There are limitations my build imposes on me. And what do I do? Should I slowly build my strength or attempt to work up a stronger core at the gym? How far do I need to alter my physique to be respected and trusted at work? But it's the things beyond the obvious latent limitations to my abilities that really make me wonder what makes me think I can and should do this with my life. The older I get the more I see that men grow less willing to have the cute chick interfering in their clique, and I don't mean to imply their hostile or resentful, simply that the presence of a pretty 20-something young woman is not something they look for as they grow families and pass through the phases in their lives.
Sometimes its the little things I'm afraid to change: instead of listening to metal or screamo all day I want to listen to the arcade fire, ben folds or any sort of new wave. Really I'd be happy with non-aggressive music while I'm trying to balance a 4'x8' piece of plywood through a table saw. But I'm tentative to bring in my softer or pop inspired girlier music for fear they'll think I'm soft. I'm coming to realize that I'll probably always be an outsider in male dominated shops unless I choose to alter my personality to their behaviours. And that's not really changing the game, that's just playing it to pass, not even to win really. On the one hand I'm capable of bypassing this huge barrier and entring a male dominated trade, but on the other hand, I'm afraid to share my music, the fact that I was a philosophy major before I was a theatre carpenter (and when I do share that I always seem to include my blue collar roots with that story) and wear something pretty to the after-work bbq.
I think it is worthwhile for women to challenge the normative career roles of both men and women and initiate real change by being the change they want to see in society. I'm proud of what I've achieved so far, and I genuinely love theatre and carpentry, but I'm suddenly daunted by what it means to be graduated from University and entering a trade that isn't hostile to change, but doesn't even understand why some people want change.
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Just wear good hearing protection and have your earbuds on underneath. And if they give you a hard time about it, offer to introduce them to the forty year old deaf men in your family. All of the men in my family have higher register hearing loss from power tools, so I'm assuming the old guys in your family do as well.
I'm a male woodworker, and the women woodworkers I know don't seem to have had to dial back the girly in order to get respect. But woodworking is a fairly solitary pursuit, so the social dynamic might be different there than in set building.
I've known a few set builders, too, though, and while they may be the macho men of theater, they're still theater guys, and used to a bit more diversity than the general population.
My experiences have generally been that you show up and you work hard, and it's the results of your work that get you respect. But I'm a guy, and can pass pretty well for macho if I have to, so I'm sure that my experience is not universal. I hope, though, that you'll be able to keep doing what you love. The world needs more feminists making sawdust!
Firstly, the bottom line is that anyone without a problem will respect you as long as you are good at your job.
I would like to pick up on one point, though...
Sometimes its the little things I'm afraid to change: instead of listening to metal or screamo all day I want to listen to the arcade fire, ben folds or any sort of new wave. Really I'd be happy with non-aggressive music while I'm trying to balance a 4'x8' piece of plywood through a table saw. But I'm tentative to bring in my softer or pop inspired girlier music for fear they'll think I'm soft.
Even if you o persue that train of thought, the likes of Arcade Fire are far more rock based than a lot of mainstream music.
Also, why should the relative hardness or softness of the music you like have any bearing on your gender? (I speak as a heterosexual male who likes Belle & Sebastian and virtually everything that Sarah Records released).
Basically, whether it's your music, how you dress when not working, or anything else of a similar vain, the bottom line is - whatever YOU choose, and what makes YOU happy and comfortable.
first off kudos to you!
I mostly work in male dominated fields as well, and it can be extremely frustrating at times. I'm a printmaker and it is big time an old boys' club. It drives me nuts when men all gather around at events to discuss their handset type and awesome presses and equipment and barely acknowledge the women there, even though we are often working with the same kinds of equipment.
I also helped fix up some of the studios / shops at my school, just building basic stuff, including a-frames for displaying work. It made me EXTREMELY frustrated that when doling out the directions the guy told them entirely to the guy I was working with, skimming over the fact that I had equal responsibility in their construction. He didn't even look at me at all. and when it came to actually building them, the fact that my male partner-in-building just assumed he should do all the drilling and I should just hold up the plywood really angered me... (especially since he didn't know about pilot holes, or how to angle the drill properly so as not to strip the screws)... my attempts at helping him improve his technique (which was failing) were largely ignored. I can't stand it when people assume that I lack knowledge, and it seems to frequently be on the basis of gender. or maybe age or appearance, hard to say.
fast forward to this week, I applied to work at a hardware store. During the interview the boss completely ignored all of my shop and work experience and basically insinuated that if I were to be hired it would be on the basis of "personality". It is hard to be a 20something woman sometimes, when trying to break into male fields. I have been frustrated time and time again... so again kudos to you. keep on keeping on.
There are limitations my build imposes on me. And what do I do? Should I slowly build my strength or attempt to work up a stronger core at the gym? How far do I need to alter my physique to be respected and trusted at work?
I would suppose you should do the same thing that a petite 5'1" male would do in the same situation: get stronger if strength is needed, don't otherwise unless you want to.
I've read articles by a number of women fitness fanatics on the subject of weightlifting, and their experience has been that the vast majority of women can do serious weightlifting without bulking up.
If you so choose, you could probably increase your functional strength dramatically without really changing your physique.