yup, construction industry here too. Testosterone infused, but 98% of the people I work with are great people.
yup, construction industry here too. Testosterone infused, but 98% of the people I work with are great people.
I'm in construction, always have been. In this game, being closeted is not really an option, it's a must. Bummer.
But I still do have fun!
I am an autoworker and the closet is a must in my world, very macho environment sadly
Oh yeah, me too. I worked for 15 years with 21 unemployed comedians. I worked in city government with hard core street guys, thugs, ex cons, the worst there is. It was so bad that when some guys had a beef with one and other the supervisors would encourage bare knuckled fights in the shop. It drove me to back to school and earn a degree and now I work in another dept. with only two others and myself whom are much more intellectual. I'm a lab analyst for the wastewater treatment plant. 180 degree difference.
It's the lemmings mindset. One person has an attitude and everyone else follows. I bet when they go home, they're considerably tamer.Originally Posted by opie188
I want to add that bigotry is not limited to men and testosterone. Over the years I've heard women also speak disparagingly towards gay men, butch lesbians, and have even heard some pretty raunchy things said about men in general.
Reine
Try a Fire Department. Now retired, thank the goddess.
I remember attending a class at the state fire school a number of years ago, and someone at the local (read state capitol) FD came out as transgendered. The local newspaper picked up on it (it was a good article), but the article got passed around in a class of about 30 guys and you can guess what the comments were. Do you know how hard it was to keep my mouth closed.
Hugs,
Teddie
I'm in the Oilfield business. The guys I deal with daily think they had a really good time and brag about it when they get in a fight at a bar.
Hang out in Combat Arms units in the Army for 26 years and you hear it all. In units like these Homophobic and sexist tripe is bantered about as a methodology of proving ones manhood. The Army is improving. In fact one of its core values is respect. However, there are those that are yet to succumb to what they deem political correctness (I call it just being kind to others).
See yourself as a soul with a body not a body with a soul" Dr. Wayne Dyer
I'm also an automotive tech in georgia though! I know how you feel
I worked with law enforcement and it was very frustrating. While what I observed was not the case for all cops, it seemed to fit a high percentage. The problem was the contradiction between the training they received to make them sensitive to others in public and the disregard they had for all of that when they were inside their own highly macho group. They would treat minorities of all sorts with respect in the field but over beers at the end of the day with their buddies it was obvious they were still biased.
Sarah
Being transgender isn't a lifestyle choice. How you deal with it is.
I like the contrasts, but I'm not tolerant of disrespectfulness. Hate breaking my nails in the garage, or get them all dirty with brakedust (always break off my thumb or index nail! grr!). I go: "Noo!" and the guys are "What happened???" lol "oh, no nothing"
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So for me idk if i would say its a testosterone work place per say. But they are a lot of i guess i would say anti-LGBT jokes that go around. At the same time the people there are all very pro LGBT. There was even a trans-gendered out woman who worked there for a while. So i know they don't really mean it but at the same time i just feel so uncomfortable around them. I guess it's just one of those things where there are just so many people in society that think the way they joke that it kinda hits close to home. Doesn't help that i'm so dam insecure about all of this.
Haha! Girl, I can relate so well!!!! Im such a girl at the shop, the other guys sometime give me a hard time about it! Lucky for me, they all like me!I like the contrasts, but I'm not tolerant of disrespectfulness. Hate breaking my nails in the garage, or get them all dirty with brakedust (always break off my thumb or index nail! grr!). I go: "Noo!" and the guys are "What happened???" lol "oh, no nothing"
My life repeated!! I can't stand all the macho BS!!!
I love Jesus!
Life is so much better now that I know who I am !
Test and developoment of heavy truck componets here....When i started this company was completly Macho white male dominated period!.. And they prided themselves on that fact...They were finally forced into hiring minorities and women by the goverment because they supplied alot of parts to the military and goverment contracts require that they be equal opportunity employers... I know I caught hell as a minority and But as far as women there go... It was not untill the mid 1990s before they could hired the first female lab tech..because they knew that would be a far worse disaster...There women were generally refered to as "Mop Wringers".."Spem Banks".. "Milk cows"..Bitches and Hoes .. you name it..It was just not a female friendly work place at all ..As a gay male ...no way!..he would have gotten hurt back then.
Today its alot better, most the hard core offenders have gotten cleared by the HR dept. But there is a strong sense of resentment towards women there now because they have to be so careful about what they say. They still say pretty bad stuff about women they just do not let women hear it. As far as gays ...being gay do not seem to be that big a deal with the guys now a days ...I mean they do not get invited to hang out at the bar after work but no one hassles any one about being gay....
As far as Trans People...Not sure they really these guys understand how a Man would ever want to be a woman ..I mean the notion to them is just plain insane...Now they can completly understand why a woman would want to be a man .. In fact we have a couple of trans guys that work there they dress in mens clothes every day and it does not raise a second glance by no one..
I wonder every day what would happen if i decided to transistion there ...I wonder how many of my so called Buds would remain my buds ...or how would it effect my working relationship with the female coworkers...
Joann
I do wish it was more accepted!!!! I would love to come out completely to everyone. But I need to keep my job! Lip Service dresses are spendy!!!
I have worked for the University for the past 27 years as a engineer (steam) and for the past 20 years in building repair which has been only a male dominated trade. Now they are working with a woman, a transexual female, me. Is there challenges? There is and some of the co-workers have made comments that could be used against them. It has been 15 months since my first day and although there has been challenges there are many more rewards.
Oh one more thing, you do need a great nail technician. My technician Jenna is a sweetheart and has fixed broken nails for hammers, grinders, basketball goals and locks. She is amazing and over the past year and half she and I have become good friends even though I'm older than her father. LOL
When I started my working life it seemed that every workplace was male dominated or exclusive with all that includes in macho BS. First in the service when the only females were nurses or clerks and then in engineering for a Fortune 100 company. All male except for secretaries. That changed when I moved into software development which had a mix of male and female and was the first change I saw in male behavior. The potential of sexual harassment lawsuits really put a lid on overt behavior but it was still pretty macho when the guys got together around the coffee pot. We were a well educated bunch so it was really toned down compared to a blue collar environment. By the time I retired we were close to 50 50 male female with as many females in management as males.
I work for a highly male dominated industry. I'm a locomotive engineer for the largest railroad in the states (our engines are yellow and gray). There are many who would be accepting, I'm sure, but most of my coworkers are very bigoted and homophobic. Rumors spread very quickly. I had a close encounter a few years ago when I was out dressed at a pharmacy when one of the guys I work with who is of the macho type, walked behind me with his girlfriend. I froze hoping he'd move one without noticing who I really was. Luckily, he didn't suspect a thing.
The views expressed in this post are not necessarily the views expressed in this post.
Twitter @beth785cd
I, along with a couple others I see, work for a Fire Department as a FF/Medic. The job is great, but the attitudes toward anything outside the macho can be a bit much. I've had to bite my tongue quite a few times and I still have most of my career ahead! oh joy.
[SIZE="3"]The haul road in Alaska....lots of knuckle draggers here!![/SIZE]
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[SIZE="3"]I'm of the belief that most of that macho crap is really just insecure men over-compensating for their own lack of self confidence! That's really all there is to it. We men brag continuously about our macho jobs and achievements. I even hear it on this forum, and maybe even in this thread![/SIZE]
Lynn Marie
Click here to see me on Flickr
Seems to be a lot of fire fighters in the forum.... is it a desire to be HOT at all times?
I work with large groups of men who have drug and alcohol addictions, terrible attitudes toward women, violence, abuse, brain disorders, FASD, Aspergers, PTSD, Bipolar, BPD, an endless list of criminal charges and no shortage of testosterone.
I'm sending Jorja a resume......<giggle>
I work in what tends to be a very high testosterone industry...the professional racing world. However, I have found in my travels that there are more than a few transpeople in my business...I've been surprised to meet professional drivers, race mechanics and car constructors at TG events like Southern Comfort. My theory is that in order to be successful in racing, you have to be a very precise, detail oriented person. Maybe having a blend of the male/female helps.
I don't think that I could ever transition in this industry without seriously hurting my career, but that's a trade-off I'm willing to accept. But next time you're watching Speed Channel, just think that the guy in the Nomex suit racing sports cars may have shaved legs and wear heels at home on the weekends.
"There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. "
- Anais Nin
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