Tuesday, October 11, 2011

all men, all older than me

I've worked for M now for the past seven years (that one year in Mexico notwithstanding). And I've always been the sole female on staff.  Not that that issue has ever been problematic for me.  But there is a small part of my brain that takes note.

I have been very fortunate to have avoided most sexism in the job site.  But it is there.  M will go to the male on staff to get feedback on how to deal with a particular issue rather than coming to me.  Other trades on job sites will turn to the male on staff to get questions answered even though I am the lead on that particular job.  I even had a full forehead-to-toe-to-forehead visual sweep once when I was delivering cabinets to a job site, with the question "you're a cabinetmaker?", tossed at me.  But in general it's been pretty low-key, the sexism.

This past week and a half I've been the lead on a job install.  I was the main person building the job in the shop, and now I'm the senior person on the job site for cabinetry.  And everyone around me has respected that.  They come to me with questions, with quality control, with need for feedback on any particular situation.

And they are all men, all older than me, all with many more years in the trades than me.

Odd.

I've never dealt with this level of respect before.

And I like it.

The reality is that I am the one with the most knowledge about the cabinets.  I built the cabinets, I made the face frames, the doors, the drawer faces, I put the whole thing together in the shop.  They have been hired as contractors to help me install.  Or they are the General Contractor, who knows a lot about running the job site, but not so much about the cabinetry we are putting in.  And they respect me, and my position.  They know I know everything about the cabinets, they know that I am the one who has the authority to make decisions, the one who will make decisions and take the heat if the decision is wrong.

And they have no issue with that.  They don't even notice (in that way) that I am female.

I am the senior person on staff when it comes to cabinets.  And it is  so refreshing to have that level of respect paid to me.

I think I've always known how skilled I am, but have never really admitted it to myself.  Nor have I had that respect reflected back to me from my previous co-workers, nor from my boss.

I.  Know.  My.  Shit.  And this time I am getting that reflected back to me.

So I am reveling in it.  Not lording it over anyone, just giving myself the credit I rarely give myself.

Nice.

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