On Sat, 1 Jan 2000, Mary Wood wrote:
<snip
> The glass ceiling, as I see it, is 3-layered:
> Visible, Invisible, and Imaginary.
<snip>
Granted, that is VERY snipped, but it was a long (but chocked full of
quality discussion) message.
I think many, many things that Mary said were very valid and well-put. I
was nodding my way through the entire message ;)
There are quite a few women on this list who are going through school or
working full-time in the tech industry. As a result a lot of you seem to
be experiencing at least some sexism. I know what that's like as I did
work in the tech sector for a while (Okay...So you're calling in sick,
Ms. Knox? Alright. And you're in what department? Billing?...Oh... You
work in the tech department? Really? Wow...cool).
Something really strange happened once I decided to stay home full-time to
raise my son. Suddenly almost all the sexism I experience is from women.
Apparently, I'm setting back the feminist movement because I'm chosing a
traditional role. Or, I'm 'too bright' to be 'wasting' my time at home. Or
I threw away my life (career) to have a child. Once someone said 'it's
hard enough to be a female in the computer industry. Imagine being 30
after raising your kids and going back to school. That's going to really
set you back!
I can understand why I wouldn't get a lot of sexist comments from men.
After all I'm doing something traditional and many males would be
comfortable with that. I'm not saying they're sexist, but seeing a woman
at home is much more common than seeing a woman in the engineering
department.
What surprised me at first was the large amount of critisism from my
female friends and family members. After sorting it out in my own mind, I
realized why: Women have come such a long way in fighting for our rights
to be equal that some are still afraid that women who chose to be in
traditional roles will set the movement back. So nursing, teaching (unless
you're a professor in a high tech course), raising children, being a
receptionist or anything else traditional makes some women feel
uncomfortable. That is a real shame.
What exactly is wrong with raising children if that's what you want to
do? What's wrong with staying home for a few years when they're little?
Getting a nursing degree? Answering phones? Caring for people? For _some_
(not all, and probably even less in this group than in most female types)
of women, the want to care for things is instinctive, whether it be pets,
kids, plants or the elderly. Some people think that's a bad thing and that
it sets us back in society, so they try to fight it. I figure that our
bodies are built to cary babies and care for them after they're born.
Since we've been doing it for millions of years, many of us have that
hardwired into our brain. Then again, that's just a guess ;)
Many women seem to want to prove how 'guy-ish' they are and that somehow
that justifies the choices they've made in life. Some women really do
have a lot of 'male' traits. That's the way they are and they're not
trying to prove anything. However I don't think we need to 'become
smaller versions of men' in order to take on a technical field. I love
computers and have been using them for years. I like sci-fi books, space
travel, documentaries and role-playing games. However, I also love
children, gardening, makeup, clothing, and a lot of other 'girlie' things.
That doesn't stop me from liking the other stuff :)
I think eventually we'll be secure enough in our position in society that
we won't need to critisize each other for our personal choices. Women with
children won't automatically assume women without should settle down and
have kids, while women who don't want children will stop looking down on
stay-at-home moms for wasting their lives away caring for them. Nurses
will be more respected and so will computer geek girls. I only brought
this up because I think becoming our own worst enemies is not a reasonable
thing to do. We're striving to open MORE doors, not close the old ones. If
we do that, then we're still limiting our options and are not better off.
Take care and I hope everyone has had a happy new year :)
Amanda
************
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxchix.org
