Dean Altman
Women are rarely safe from sexism, but it’s even worse for women who work in what are typically considered male-dominated fields—things like tech, construction, and engineering. Those women have to put up with insults on the reg from co-workers, customers, and even bosses.
On Twitter, user @lameravioli asked women to share their “worst story about working in a male-dominated industry.”
https://twitter.com/lameravioli/status/1098684782542753793
She started off by sharing some of her own: like the time a subcontractor told her he wished her safety vest were shorter so he could see her butt.
Or the time her company got a job for a black church and the project team started joking about African Americans. Wow.
other worthy contenders:
– my company won a job for a black church + the project team started joking about having to make the balconies structurally sound enough to hold the “African Americans jumping around praising da Lord”
— gaychel (@lameravioli) February 21, 2019
OR the time her company got a job for a LGBT health center and the project team started complaining about having to “watch what they say on site.” Um. Also WOW.
other worthy contenders pt 2:
– my company won a job for a LGBT health center + the project team started groaning about having to “watch what they say on site now” + then launched into a rant about how anyone who wants to chop their man parts off deserves to go to the looney bin
— gaychel (@lameravioli) February 21, 2019
Other women chimed in and guess what? The stories will make you shake your head and say “DAMN.”
1.
I was a manager for a year at a local restaurant. One time a guy came in to fix our stove. When he was done he gave his paperwork to a guy we hired THAT DAY and asked him to sign it, then told me the stove was ready for me to cook on it again.
— sarah✨ (@sarah_burson) February 21, 2019
2.
One of mine is one day where I introduced myself to a guy in the break room and I told him my job and he goes “a female mechanical engineer? What’s next?!?” then later asked me who I knew to get the job
— Mary Smith (@marysmith687) February 21, 2019
3.
one summer i was interning for a major tech company, i was the only girl on the entire team. one of my coworkers incessantly messaged me and on my birthday, got me two $100 gift cards to red lobster (?????) then when he found out i had a boyfriend, he asked me to give them back
— ???????????????????????? (@emilymccutie) February 21, 2019
4.
working in a gym in general is demonic but once in the middle of my workout i was on a bench doing a tricep exercise and the guy spotting me stared down at me and said “i know you’re not into men but in this position you look so fucking hot”
— the trucks kept on going but thank god she’s fine (@shadymandias) February 21, 2019
5.
3 male foremen in a row wouldn’t let me demo concrete because I “could get hurt doing men’s work.” One finally let me try and when I paused and turned around LITERALLY the entire job had stopped work to watch and one guy was fucking filming
— j (@thejaceyedpeas) February 21, 2019
6.
I have so many from construction, but here’s 1: happened to my (female) coworker on the site we’re working. Operator gets out of his equipment, drops his pants, and waves his dick around making a “suck it” hand motion as she is going by. A classique
— hannnah (@hannzible) February 21, 2019
7.
worked in a hardware store for a hot minute & it was the worst
Once this dude came in & I asked if there was anything I could help w/ he said “thanks sweetheart but I’m gonna ask one of the smart guys”. I ended up having the answer to his question. He got pissed and stormed out
— bella, like from twilight? (@not__bella) February 21, 2019
8.
Wore a skirt (with tights, in accordance with dress code) to a restaurant job and manager told me I couldn’t wear it because it was creating an unsafe working environment for the male kitchen staff
— Amy Winemouth (@diva_prentiss) February 21, 2019
9.
Wore baggy athletic shorts to paint outside in 95 degree heat while my male coworkers were inside and my boss told me I needed to wear pants because I was too distracting… also paid me $5 less an hour than the men and called me “girl” as if I didn’t have a name
— Alex Robotham (@alexrobotham) February 22, 2019
10.
My first internship with my town mayor it was me and 6 boys, at the end of the internship they got me a pink journal while all the boys got nice pens and everyone in the office always called me “the girl”
— carolion???????? (@_Carrotlion) February 22, 2019
11.
Brought up a simple solution during a team meeting and the lead looked at me with dead eyes and said “hmm.” At the end of the meeting during recap, my apparently now “really good” idea was credited to a man on the team, and he was told to run with it.
— call me bishmael ???? (@kaitiincolumbus) February 22, 2019
12.
a chef at the restaurant i worked at wouldn’t stop fully grabbing my & my coworker’s butts on shift and saying “oops”. even after we reported it nothing was happening so we sprayed his herb garden with 409 cleaner so all of his herbs died and he couldn’t figure out why
— brigit (@hellobrigit) February 22, 2019
13.
https://twitter.com/AlexxGivens/status/1098938252902436864
14.
An an athletic trainer I constantly get cornered by dads telling me about their groin injuries in the past. Coaches specifically walk past me to talk to my male coworkers or INTERNS. I get asked for “rub downs”.
— Kelsy Ⓥ (@kelsydwm) February 22, 2019
15.
I worked in a suit store and I asked a man if he needed any help and he looked at me, then looked at my male manager and said “what is she doing here?” And refused to even acknowledge me the rest of the time
— tatertot (@taterbaterbug) February 22, 2019
h/t: BuzzFeed and @lameravioli
