Cai
08-01-2008, 09:54 PM
(This is pulled from a question I asked in a LiveJournal community, hence re-hashing some of the info the guys in the Clubhouse here already have.)
At work, I present female (sorta - I'm known as she, but dress very very unisex and have masculine hair). I have a physical labor job (I'm part of a canoe trip crew) and it requires a fair amount of heavy lifting and physical exertion.
/backstory
I have a co-worker who is always trying to take over the more demanding jobs for me. He's also extremely patronizing and condescending to me, and seems to have the attitude that I'm not capable of doing my job just because I'm female-bodied. At one point, I became so annoyed with him that I, completely seriously, threatened to hit him if he didn't knock it off, and I'm extremely lucky he didn't try to get me in trouble for it.
IIRC, there's only 3 women, plus me being female-bodied, that are part of our crew, though most of them are only working trips sporadically.
One of them is the stereotypical blonde cheerleader type. From day one, we didn't get along. I have to admit, albeit grudgingly, that she knows what she's doing on the river (even if she uses her looks to charm the guys into doing the lifting for her).
The thing is, I don't like to admit she's competent at a physical labor job because she presents very feminine. It's not something I decided consciously, but I'm definitely lowering her skills in my mind just because she's a girl.
Which is exactly what Patronizing Co-worker does to me.
I'm a strong feminist, and I don't like what I'm finding out about myself through interacting with her.
So has anybody else encourted this sort of unconscious misogyny in themselves? What did you do about it?
At work, I present female (sorta - I'm known as she, but dress very very unisex and have masculine hair). I have a physical labor job (I'm part of a canoe trip crew) and it requires a fair amount of heavy lifting and physical exertion.
/backstory
I have a co-worker who is always trying to take over the more demanding jobs for me. He's also extremely patronizing and condescending to me, and seems to have the attitude that I'm not capable of doing my job just because I'm female-bodied. At one point, I became so annoyed with him that I, completely seriously, threatened to hit him if he didn't knock it off, and I'm extremely lucky he didn't try to get me in trouble for it.
IIRC, there's only 3 women, plus me being female-bodied, that are part of our crew, though most of them are only working trips sporadically.
One of them is the stereotypical blonde cheerleader type. From day one, we didn't get along. I have to admit, albeit grudgingly, that she knows what she's doing on the river (even if she uses her looks to charm the guys into doing the lifting for her).
The thing is, I don't like to admit she's competent at a physical labor job because she presents very feminine. It's not something I decided consciously, but I'm definitely lowering her skills in my mind just because she's a girl.
Which is exactly what Patronizing Co-worker does to me.
I'm a strong feminist, and I don't like what I'm finding out about myself through interacting with her.
So has anybody else encourted this sort of unconscious misogyny in themselves? What did you do about it?