Some of the earliest memories I had as a child in regards to gender roles that were placed upon me was that of my grandmother. Having been a woman who fought the gender segregation of the optical engineering field, she was ever at the ready to guide me to challenge anything I was not supposed to do based solely on my gender. It is directly because of these teachings that I made a point to contradict gender roles, pursue male dominated fields, and contest sexism wherever I encountered it.
As a child I had a strong affinity towards the sciences. I was also frequently told how rare it was for me to like something that typically only boys liked. The strongly imposed expectations of my youth to play quietly with dolls, never get dirty, and to behave as a young lady were in direct contradiction to the person I wanted to be. I rode mountain bikes, was quite often covered in blood and dirt, and to my family’s dismay rarely ever behaved like a lady. The gender roles of girls and women have never well suited me, and from a young age I always challenged them.
During my adolescence there was significant difficulty emotionally for me to process the expected gender roles. I noticed as I entered puberty I also began to be treated significantly different than I had before. Based on my hefty bosom, there suddenly became the idea that I was ditzy, and should not carry myself the way I always had. No longer was it a minor nuisance if I was opinionated, or if I participated in no female activities, it had now become a taboo. The struggle to maintain my identity as well as embrace my new body met with new forms of sexism.
Being a woman of short stature, it was not uncommon for people to view me as physically weak in comparison to any man. It was because of this that even at a young age, I was a daredevil that would challenge and typically better any boy that I could. Even later in life when I was pursuing a career in HVAC-R and later as a milk delivery driver I was met with doubts of my ability to physically do the job that was required of me. The end result of that doubt was me mastering the skills needed for HVAC-R, and becoming the top driver for the dairy where I was the only woman driver. To this day, I work in a warehouse where my duties are typically done by a male worker. These examples of gender stratification show not only how sexism is still an issue in our society, but also how these glass ceilings are being shattered when women such as myself pursue and advance in a male dominated field.
Overall my perception of what sexism is has been greatly influenced by my grandmother. The glass ceiling that she hit for most of her life my catalyst to take on male dominated fields. The gendered institutions where males excelled in the sciences my fodder to become mechanically minded. The patriarchy in which she grew up in has lessened in my time, but whenever there is opposition solely based on gender it compels me to disprove it.
foxgloveremedy 