#56 - Good Ol' Boys

If you were to ask me if I am a feminist, I would say no.  Having said that however, I do believe we have all been created equal by God.  I do believe that women can do most jobs that men can, and they should be paid a fair and just wage for that job.  I do believe there are women who are more intelligent than men.  I do believe there are women who could take a car engine apart and put it back together better than some men.  I consider myself a fairly intelligent, well-read woman, who can understand something if it is explained clearly.  So, it really irks me to be around what I would call "good ol' boys".  Chauvinistic, macho men, who look at women as unintelligent, dainty objects.  No, I do not work on cars, but when I bring my car in to a mechanic, I expect him (or her) to tell me what is wrong with my car in a non-condescending manner.  No, I am not a computer engineer, but when I call a help desk about a problem I am having with my computer, I expect that help desk person to walk me through the problem and the solution, not talk to me as if I only know how to plug the power cable in to the wall and nothing more.  I have a husband who does hardware/network engineering work and when he comes home and tells me about his day, he talks to me as an equal and as if (as if!!) I really understand the complexity of the problems he is relating to me! He does not talk down to me and has always encouraged me in whatever new project may be on my to do list.  The good ol' boy network is out there though.  I have seen it in many different places - the grocery store: excuse me, ma'am, do you need help with your bags (just because I have a cart filled with bags does not mean I can't get them to my car; well, OK, maybe I do want the help there!); the car dealer: here is the work that needs to be done, do you need to call your husband;  the home improvement store: do you need help loading those 20 bags of mulch into your car, ma'am (do I look like my arms are broken; well, maybe, I do want your help there, too!); my office: oh, I have a priest emergency and cannot do the beginning of your parent meeting, so let me get another clergy to do it, because we have special powers of talking to parents that you do not have.  My point is that in any of the above scenarios, if it had been my husband, he would not have gotten the same treatment (well, maybe, the priest thing would have been the same).  So, getting back to my opening line - maybe I am a feminist, after all! I am woman, hear me roar!