A Woman in Labor; Giving Birth to Feminism in Construction

 I would like to quickly make a personal disclaimer concerning the title and topic of this entry: first, I recently was exposed to the new noun "womxn" which among many other purposes, serves to bypass the inherent sexism of the word "women" (wo-men, fe-male; get it?). I really like this word as I have always felt... feministic disgust? from the second half of "women". However, as I am criticizing society as seen from the traditional, patriarchal viewpoint, I will continue the use of "women" at this time.  Second, I do not believe any divide in humankind should be or is necessarily irreparable. But given the mindsets of the men I work with and the stories and perspectives I will be sharing below, it seemed like a good question to throw out into the universe. Will there always be a considerable fighting force of traditionalist patriarchal figures who refuse to consider the world from any other angle, and refute female-led arguments in favor of a n...

 Definitely a misleading title, but mortify is a word to which I'm partial. When I was fifteen years younger, my present choices may have been mortifying. Now they are a manifestation of who I am; a person that may not love herself just yet, but who is comfortable with herself. My first months at this job, I felt as if I was in junior high school again. It seemed that I could not commit to a character profile as I was not sure if I wanted to fit in or stand out. I'm certain that (as is the case with anything) I wanted a balance of the two, but I wasn't sure how to achieve it without sacrificing a bit of who I am. How could I be bold and confident when I knew nothing? How could I be polite and studious when I was constantly heckled? I vacillated between extremes. Reflecting upon every past feeling and behavior I can conjure up, I realize that as a human it is normal to have a many faceted personality with occasional (and often provoked) flares in emotion. The unusual bit was...

 As I am sure any introspective adult has observed, we become more tolerant of pain as our experiences compile. I have been consciously aware and contemplative on the subject of pain management since I began working in labor seven years ago, although I'm sure a more primitive area of my brain has known and congratulated me on my callousness for years before that. It seems outwardly very natural that humans should come to accept pain on any level as a regular consequence of living. But as so much pain could be avoided and other pains are a sign of an issue that requires immediate attention, I can't help but be fascinated by the process of building resistance to bodily pain; we build endurance (largely subconsciously?) so we may withstand greater discomfort as we expand our knowledge and experience.  I suppose I will start with an observation made at work (since in theory this is meant to be a blog that reflects upon my time as an apprentice). One afternoon, nestled in the back ...

 Sounds like a fantastically comedic show, no? This wouldn't be the first time I've considered how to turn my job into a sitcom or a play, but the fact of the matter is that the antics would be the only source of amusement. It isn't like a barista job where there are wacky new flavors on their chalkboards or a restaurant where the wait staff has witty banter with their customers. We sometimes rarely see our "customers" and when we do we generally ignore each other because there is nothing a customer can do but distract from the task at hand. But conceptualizing an electrician themed performance was not what I came here to do (wait... Tim Allen's Home Improvement... how much of that tackled actual repair work?). The program I am a part of is considered "indoor" electric work. This is not necessarily the case. I AM lucky to be currently working indoors as the season grows colder, and I acknowledge that the cold I've endured thus far is barely a whi...

 I have to say that I doubt my blogging on this topic will follow any clear path or train of thought. I write as I ponder. So as is the case in just about all corporate working environments that employ at least 10 people, the construction industry really digs in to training when it comes to sexual harassment. I realize this makes sense as it is clearly stated in my page info paragraph that women make up less than 10% of construction employees and are thereby "minorities" in the trade. As humans should have noticed by now, those who are not classified as belonging to the dominant social group of an organization or culture face much higher instances of discrimination. I cannot strictly call it a representation of the pecking order because those who get pecked are not necessarily weaker or subservient (like chickens), but I digress. The point is that construction workers have the stereotype and history of being catcalling, vulgar, arrogant men, therefore they require more repeti...

I have already alluded to the lack of emotional depth displayed by men in construction, so it's not a long shot to connect this behavior to that of the insincere compliment. The insincere compliment is usually meant to soften the previous avalanche of insults, or as they call it in the business, "ball busting". I do not have balls, so I'm going to assume this does not apply to me and I will call an insult an insult. I suppose the insincere compliment is also a means of continuing the manly bluster with a different tone. Even construction workers get tired of the same schtick, so to add some flavor to the day a "no kidding, dumbass" will be twisted into a sarcastically awestruck "you're so smart".  Now I understand that these things are said in jest, but I also firmly believe that every "I was just kidding" contains a hint of truth. Does that mean the sarcastic "you're so smart" is a partial compliment? Well now I've ...