Re: What is a Feminist?…really

#749728

redblack
Participant

WC:

Also, the numbers will probably have to be looked at closely to take into account major industries like Construction, which will probably have few women running things in the foreseeable future. These major industries will likely have some sort of queueing on the numbers as a whole (how much I can’t say).

oh, we don’t discriminate.

we treat everyone who steps onto the job site in a suit and shiny new hard hat equally badly, regardless of gender.

sexual harassment? that’s another story.

okay, that was an attempt at humor, so please put down the rotten tomatoes.

regarding construction labor, there’s kind of a military thing with construction workers: you know the argument that most women are of smaller stature and don’t have the sheer physical strength or weight required for some tasks?

we see more women electricians and plumbers, but not in sufficient quantity to reflect the populace.

“and how do the men react?”

that’s the question, right?

it’s like i said before. the stupid guys act and speak like idiots when a woman walks on the job site. and, unfortunately, even union construction jobs don’t attract the best and brightest.

i have seen exactly two women who do my job in the last 17 years. as the lead hod carrier, i expected no less from them than i did from anyone else on the crew. as union members, our pay and benefits are all the same, so all of us should be relatively equal in work ability, regardless of gender. (there are exceptions, such as lower-wage apprenticeships and bonus pay for foremen.) one of the women was average, maybe a little better than most of the guys.

the other one – let’s just say that more often than not you could find her leaning on a shovel talking with bricklayers, who were more than happy to reciprocate. some of them would gently coax her to bring them mortar or bricks, but they didn’t talk to her nearly as roughly as they would if a man had been standing around bullshitting instead of working. and she didn’t get laid off nearly as quickly as a lazy man would have.