Equality...please, pick a side!
It happened again the other night at groceries that had me scratching my head and wondering about the whole feminism and women's liberation and all. Groceries were coming in late, normally they are there at 1-2pm and we have about 7-10 people helping unload the 6-13 pallets of food (ranging from 6000 to 14,000 lbs of food) that are a mixture of cans, vegetables, frozen meats and what not. Because the food was arriving later than normal, all the people that would have normally helped went to bed, leaving 6 people awake to unload groceries. No problem, had a light day of groceries so we could handle it. The thing that got me scratching my head was when one of the girls in our company came in to help unload the groceries and while she was waiting around with the rest of the crew, the (female) manager came in and asked what she was doing still up. The reply was "I am waiting to help with groceries". The manager flipped and basically said in no short terms (which she has repeated constantly every time we ask for help with groceries) "groceries are not in your job description and the camp does not want women unloading groceries". This got me slightly purterbed.
This is not the first time the one lady had offered to help unload groceries. She has helped out on two occassions (one when the male manager was in and she got a thanks for helping out from him, and once when the female manager was in and she got a stern talking to and the crew got a lecture the next day at the staff meeting) and she does really well. Granted, there are some boxes or things that come her way that she stands back and says "sorry, that looks way too heavy for me" and we let it go. I mean, if any of the guys on the crew looked at the frozen prime rib or watermelon cases and said "nope, too heavy" we let them stand back, get the box to the next person in the line and off they go with it. No insults, no comments, no jabs at lack of masculinity. We are an understanding bunch and we all know that we know and accept our limitations and wont do stupid stuff like trying to lift a 90 lbs box just to show off how strong we are. As well, this girl has worked as a bartender/porter in bars and has lifted boxes of beer, cases of hard liquor as well as other heavy items in the bar, so it isnt like she is a tiny 70 lbs weakling trying to prove to the guys that she is capable but straining her body to the point of breaking. We all know that she can hold her own and carry a good deal quite easily.
We have told the female manager this, she has seen the girl lift heavy boxes as a housekeeper and other job around camp, and yet when it comes to groceries 'women dont lift groceries'. At first the manager tried the excuse "it is not in your job description", but that got shot down because it isnt in the medics or any of the other male supervisors in the blasting or mining part of the camp job description to help lift groceries, and yet they are there.
Why is it that when it comes to equality, as well as chivalry, some women say they want equality in both when it suits them better, but when the job or action goes against them they denounce equality and fall back on their gender? Like when a woman is out with her boyfriend, she likes it when he acts all macho and does work for her like opening car doors, getting slightly jealous and protective when guys whistle at her, making a scene of fighting if she feels insulted by another person at the bar. But when the guy does something that makes her feel inferior like ordering for her or telling her what she should have to eat, then she starts screaming equality and that she has a mind and can do things on her own. Well, if she can do things on her own, then why cant she open her own car door, fight her own battles or solve her own problems?
Yet again, this just reassures my personal belief that we will never have equality and peace with the genders until women can figure out what it is that they want in life. Do they want to be treated like the damsel in distress and men are knights in shining armour, or do they want to be seen as equals. In which case, isnt it better to treat all people like men than to treat all people like the stereotypical women? after all, if we are all treated, and treat each other, like the way women want to be treated in romance books and such, then wouldnt that mean that no door would ever be opened, no person would ever be wooed (since we would all be waiting for the other to do something), no meal would ever be paid for since it is always the other persons responsibility to pay for the meal. But if we treated all like men, then we would open our own doors, pay for our own meals, solve our own battles and the only reason we would be with someone is because we want to be with them, not we are with them because we have to be with them to keep social norms at bay.
This is not the first time the one lady had offered to help unload groceries. She has helped out on two occassions (one when the male manager was in and she got a thanks for helping out from him, and once when the female manager was in and she got a stern talking to and the crew got a lecture the next day at the staff meeting) and she does really well. Granted, there are some boxes or things that come her way that she stands back and says "sorry, that looks way too heavy for me" and we let it go. I mean, if any of the guys on the crew looked at the frozen prime rib or watermelon cases and said "nope, too heavy" we let them stand back, get the box to the next person in the line and off they go with it. No insults, no comments, no jabs at lack of masculinity. We are an understanding bunch and we all know that we know and accept our limitations and wont do stupid stuff like trying to lift a 90 lbs box just to show off how strong we are. As well, this girl has worked as a bartender/porter in bars and has lifted boxes of beer, cases of hard liquor as well as other heavy items in the bar, so it isnt like she is a tiny 70 lbs weakling trying to prove to the guys that she is capable but straining her body to the point of breaking. We all know that she can hold her own and carry a good deal quite easily.
We have told the female manager this, she has seen the girl lift heavy boxes as a housekeeper and other job around camp, and yet when it comes to groceries 'women dont lift groceries'. At first the manager tried the excuse "it is not in your job description", but that got shot down because it isnt in the medics or any of the other male supervisors in the blasting or mining part of the camp job description to help lift groceries, and yet they are there.
Why is it that when it comes to equality, as well as chivalry, some women say they want equality in both when it suits them better, but when the job or action goes against them they denounce equality and fall back on their gender? Like when a woman is out with her boyfriend, she likes it when he acts all macho and does work for her like opening car doors, getting slightly jealous and protective when guys whistle at her, making a scene of fighting if she feels insulted by another person at the bar. But when the guy does something that makes her feel inferior like ordering for her or telling her what she should have to eat, then she starts screaming equality and that she has a mind and can do things on her own. Well, if she can do things on her own, then why cant she open her own car door, fight her own battles or solve her own problems?
Yet again, this just reassures my personal belief that we will never have equality and peace with the genders until women can figure out what it is that they want in life. Do they want to be treated like the damsel in distress and men are knights in shining armour, or do they want to be seen as equals. In which case, isnt it better to treat all people like men than to treat all people like the stereotypical women? after all, if we are all treated, and treat each other, like the way women want to be treated in romance books and such, then wouldnt that mean that no door would ever be opened, no person would ever be wooed (since we would all be waiting for the other to do something), no meal would ever be paid for since it is always the other persons responsibility to pay for the meal. But if we treated all like men, then we would open our own doors, pay for our own meals, solve our own battles and the only reason we would be with someone is because we want to be with them, not we are with them because we have to be with them to keep social norms at bay.
posted by Capt_Canuck at 2:42 PM
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