Last week, I was helping an organization, which shall remain nameless, paint their building. I completely love painting so I was super excited to help. When I got to the building there was a male in charge of directing everyone which was okay, but as he gave direction, I noticed that he would not let us get a roller brush to paint with. It may have been petty for me to be a little upset, but I was. He told us that he would let us “cut in” which basically means that we were to do the borders and edges of the walls. He also kept calling us girls, which would not have been as annoying if he would have called the men boys, but of course he called them men. I really felt belittled a little bit every time he would speak.
When we got underway, he taught all of us ladies to paint the border of the walls which was really fun. However, it felt like he did not trust us to branch out to different parts in the room. There were like 5 women on one wall which was definitely not needed. Being the person I am, I had to take charge a little bit and took it upon myself to find my own brush and I painted another part of the building. That went well, but then I heard the team leader say something that has still bothered me 7 days later. He said, after we are done girls we have some cleaning for you to do, so grab a rag and get to it. I got a little bit upset because he could have made that statement to the entire team. The ladies were not the only ones capable of cleaning so the comment should not have been only directed toward us. Maybe I read too much into it, but I just really got offended. Maybe it was because I really felt underestimated because I was a female in the situation. It did not make sense to me that we had to get the “girly” job only because we were females, when we were all pretty good painters it turned out.
This made me think about blue and pink collar jobs for some reason. I thought about the jobs considered “pink collared” which include teaching jobs, homemakers, secretarial work, nurses, etc. while “blue collared” jobs include construction, jobs in business, doctors, etc. In thinking about these stereotypical job types I briefly got frustrated because it’s really not fair, as I do understand that life is not fair either. The issue honestly goes beyond fairness, because the action and attitudes of some males (and females for that matter) may lead to some not so good implications on their part. Some may not even know that they are being offensive, and that they are playing into the system.
I’m just tired of being placed into a box because of gender, because there is so much more about me that matters than my gender. Again, I know that I may be on the complaint train today, and it may not have even been that serious of an issue last week, but it is still on my mind which means a lot to me. Granted, the team leader may not have even realized that his words, tone, and actions were offensive to anyone; but that does not make it okay by any means. I wish that I were bold enough to even mention it to him in the situation. Nonetheless, The paint job did get completed, and I think that we (the ladies) surprised everyone because of our exemplary painting skills.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 
Whenever I hear the statement, “Life is not fair,” I want to reply, “Well, you’re just a lazy mother-fucker, aren’t you?” When hearing that statement it implies that well, there is nothing any of us can do, so why be upset? But, that’s taking the easy way out. We must do what you did– move to another wall and begin painting. Without another’s approval, but with a mindset in saying, no I think I am going to try to make life fair. I think I am going to try to engender equality, justice, fairness.
Bravo ladyfavor!
LikeLike
First of all, I don’t think you’re overreacting at ALL. It’s obvious this guy (while he probably wasn’t meaning to), was being pretty unfair. What I think is interesting about situations like these is how easy it is to fall into gendered roles. It wasn’t until I got into feminism that I started to recognize just how often women and men are herded toward certain responsibilities just because of gender. Once you have on your feminist goggles, it’s nuts how often you realize that men and women are being treated differently. I think it’s great that you noticed this, and that you wrote about it.
I’ve had similar realizations lately (this may seem petty, but whatever I’m saying’ it) about how it’s basically impossible for me to hold a door for a man. (On the way to class last week there was a serious stand-off between be and another guy; I was holding the door for him and he just wasn’t havin’ it) Anyway, I recognize that the intention behind holding the door for a girl is out of politeness, man aren’t evil for doing it, but it’s frustrating when women are capable of holding political office, running marathons, going to the moon, but yet we’re not allowed to hold the door for a man?? Overall it’s important to recognize it, and to draw attention to it, I think that’s the first step to changing it. Nice post!
LikeLike
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate the support. I like how you turned my moving to another wall into a cool analogy. It is very true that we (women and men alike) should move to another wall and begin painting against inequality in every sect of life. Good response!
LikeLike