Fe<Male

As most of you know, women are not always treated equal. I’ll admit that sometimes I overlook this issue as women just complaining. However, as I grow older and work in many different environments, I am learning just how terribly true this inequality is. I work as a receptionist in a car dealership. I really love the job and most of the people are very easy-going.

Sadly, cars are one of those things that women aren’t supposed to be familiar with. It’s a man’s game. In their eyes, a car should be a mystery to me and I should never figure it out… Ever. Maybe not quite that dramatic, but who are you going to listen to? A fast-talking salesman or me? Anyway, that doesn’t really matter. What really matters is why this bothers me so much.

I’ve been trying to make career decisions. I want to go to school for SOMETHING just not exactly sure what. Auto-Body is something that I have considered getting into for a while now. There’s one thing that keeps me from entering that field. And that one thing is, you guessed it, men. I’m just the receptionist here, I don’t really NEED to know anything about cars. I’m just supposed to direct calls and do paperwork. Even in a job where cars are not supposed to be my main concern, I am still ridiculed when I mess up a car part’s name or have to double check how to spell “Camry” (Am I the only one who thinks that should be spelled a different way? It doesn’t look like a word)

This wouldn’t normally bother me, but my boyfriend is into cars. I’m not completely stupid when it comes to them. The real question is; Why does it bother me more when they mock me on not knowing about a guy thing than if they were ridiculing my makeup? I guess it’s because deep down I know there are no true guy things or girl things and it infuriates me when everyone is kept to a specific group.

If anything it makes every woman feel as though there are just certain things that they aren’t allowed to understand. That’s simply not true. It also makes the idea of a woman working in a body shop seem absurd and that’s just dumb. I know that I as a person and not a woman can do whatever I set my mind to. But… The world doesn’t see it that way. They try to make you feel as though you’re stepping into something that won’t be pleasant for you. I know, because I’ve seen it first hand among my boyfriend’s friends. A woman was working at Auto Zone and they basically completely ignored her and found a guy to help them (who coincidentally had no idea what he was doing) and that made me want to punch every single one of them in the face multiple times. I guess that’s not really a lady thing to do, though.

Sexism is alive and well and I want it dead. Sexism is the reason woman think they need a man to be strong and confident. Let me tell you something, I’ve met women who could kick my boyfriend’s ass and men who couldn’t even touch me. That shouldn’t affect how we view them as a person. Everyone has a purpose and sometimes it doesn’t fit into their gender stereotype. I honestly thought we were further along than this, but we aren’t.