Femme Writes: Women in the Work Place

On the 5th of every month, bloggers from around the world are open to write about rights and issues concerning women. First started by Shine and Marie, we’re hoping to bring a variety of women’s issues to the forefront to make people aware of what’s going on. For the month of June, we’ve chosen to write about Women in the Workplace. Please join us in telling us your stories, thoughts, and ideas on a monthly basis. To read previous installments, click here.

ok kids. so the name of the game today is: Women in the Workplace. i happen to be a woman, and i happen to be fortunate enough to be one of those increasingly rare people with a workplace. so. this is my take on it.

i have been at my job for ten year. TEN YEARS people. and i’m not even 30 yet…for a few more months. yes i  keep mentioning it. ITS THIRTY PEOPLE. anywho…i’ve been around a WHILE. there’s so many different tangents i want to pop off on…i could write four or five VERY DIFFERENT blogs on this topic…maybe i’ll come back to it again soon. today though, i want to throw out there how LUCKY our generation of women are when it comes to workplaces. when we sit back and look at it…no matter how much we hate our jobs some days or complain about boy’s clubs, or think that some places are so backwards the basic fact is that women are allowed in the workplace now. and (for the most part) respected in the work place.

different conversations have come up around our office at different times, and it wasn’t so long ago that the workplace was VERY different for women. the gals here are just in their 60’s and they talk about what it was like when they started working…holy crap…i wouldn’t have lasted a day kids. i would have been kicked out, tried as a witch, and banished to my kitchen, barefoot and pregnant for all time. which wouldn’t have been great since i can barely handle my two kids, and SUCK at most betty crocker attempts. a formal dinner party? you mean something where paper plates aren’t allowed? I’M OUT.

but you listen to these gals talk…DAMN GALS. we’re lucky.

maybe a month ago, one of our female engineers left on maternity leave. (FEMALE engineer...catch that? HELLZ YES). maternity leave- doesn’t sound like a big deal. i went on maternity leave 7 years ago for my small spawn and didn’t think twice about it. OF COURSE i would go on maternity leave. OF COURSE i would come back to work after my set number of weeks. what’s there to think about? well, the little engineer that could went out on leave and the rest of us started talking about when we had our kids and what the company was like at the time. turns out it was only back in the 70’s in my company when the first woman (and she was fairly high up in the company) was allowed out on maternity leave as we know it. in other words she left FULLY INTENDING TO COME BACK. not just to go home, pop out babies, and be a house wife forever thereafter. the 70’s kids. that isn’t so long ago. and she was a trailblazer for coming back to work. BIG FUCKING DEAL back then. now days it’s just…whatever. of course i’ll leave and come back. thirty years ago. that’s it. thirty years ago and my whole career would have been different.

hell- thirty years ago and i wouldn’t have even HAD a career- single 19 year old mom- i would have been locked away “back east visiting relatives.” yikes.

but much more has changed besides maternity leave- 30 years ago there is no way in hell i would have been allowed into my office the way i dress. you see, it’s friday (i’m writing early because a saturday post? are you kidding?). friday = casual day. hell- most days are casual day for me. probably more days than should be. today i’m in jeans (nice, clean jeans), a nice cotton shirt, and chuck taylors. JEANS. SNEAKERS. at the corporate office. thirty years ago casual day didn’t exist. if you worked in an office it was SKIRT, blouse, hose, and heels. EVERY. DAY.(and don't forget your slip. only trashy girls wear a skirt without a slip!)  i would have gone insane. i HAVE several cute skirts. i HAVE my share of gorgeous heels. but EVERY. SINGLE. DAY? i'm not opposed to being all business, but the fact is i sit at a desk on the third floor, well away from any customers or even people outside out department. does wearing a skirt affect my ability answer the phone and type a letter? thinking: not so much. but thirty years ago it wouldn't have mattered. SKIRTS. PERIOD. and i know some offices are still that way- bigger cities, legal offices, more professional offices where people are greeting/working with the customers all the time. i'm spoiled, i know that. several gals have talked about when they started working and it WAS the pencil skirts and suits. not even slacks- pants were for men. and now...so different.

and i know these things seems stupid. they seems small. and that's the way it should be. that's the way the women before us have made it. MAD PROPS GALS. thanks for making my career livable! and I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW there is so much room for improvement. i know that pay is NOT equal. i know that women are still being passed over for jobs due to the ever enduring "good ol boys club." i know that there's still sexual harrasment. i could talk about a boss that told me "it would be better if i stuck to office work. it's better for women" or how he accused me of trying to blackmail him and whore my way to the top for daring to speak up when he was doing illegal and unethical things. i KNOW there's still bullshit. i know that every day i go to work and there's high school graduates making twice what i make with a bachelors degree because they're in "boy jobs" (linemen, warehouse workers, heavy equipment operators). but STILL. looking at where we've been, and looking at where we are...HUGE strides have been made, and now it's up to us to keep pushing and make even bigger strides for the next generation. i HOPE that one day girls can look back and say "what's the big deal" about some of the things we're fighting for now in the workplace. i hope that one day they can have their choice of jobs, equal pay, equal treatment WITHOUT QUESTION. but for now, i'm going to enjoy sitting in my jeans, speaking my mind, and even HAVING a job.