It took working with a woman in construction for Jason Rhyno to realize that it’s not boys vs. girls, it’s who’s the better person for the job.
Shannon was maybe five feet tall, with long dirty blonde hair and skin dark gold from the sun; she weighed, in the vernacular of the landscaping profession, “95 pounds soaking wet.” I was the supervisor of a small landscaping company, and would periodically be asked for my thoughts on a candidate’s resume. We had never hired a woman. Women mostly worked for municipalities on flowerbed detail, and we were a small company with a crew of four. Turnover is high in the landscaping industry, especially at private companies that tend to work their employees longer and harder.
We had recently been through a string of male hires who either dropped like flies from the pace of work or had an attitude problem. Most were mediocre in terms of their skill set, and what I really wanted was another person like me: hard working, skilled with various equipment, didn’t complain when we had to work extra hours, and, God forbid, took a little pride in the quality of his work.
Shannon’s resume was stacked; it compared nicely to mine in breadth of equipment experience, but left me in the dust with seven years of experience to my five. One thing that I had on Shannon was a driver’s license, and the absence of one on her resume had held her back in the landscaping industry. The other thing that I had on her was that I was male.
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It wasn’t until Shannon that I realized the extent to which women have to work for and in their careers. I also saw how entitled men are when it comes to work. The latter isn’t always our fault, however: if you grow up white, male, economically comfortable, and otherwise privileged, then what reason do you have to pursue academic excellence, build a resume with outstanding experience, and generally give it your all?
Are we all Homer Simpsons and Peter Griffins—or any other primetime male: lazy, overweight, kinda stupid, able to make disastrous mistakes as long as we apologize afterwards? I hope not. But when a University of Florida study finds that men who put on a paunch make more money than thin men, It gives me pause. It also shouldn’t be surprising that the same study found that larger women take home less than thinner women—if not illustrating then certainly providing a glimpse of the double-standard that exists between the sexes.
Men drop out of school faster than women, and tend to saunter through our 20s in no particular rush to do anything. Academically, girls have always made us eat their dust. And yet, we still overwhelmingly occupy engineering and math, not to mention various trades like landscaping. We aren’t stupid, but we can act that way—as if intelligence and ambition are unmanly characteristics.
According to a recent report by Statistics Canada, the gender wage gap has either narrowed or remained constant, depending on age, hours worked, industry, etc. Yes, on average, men still take home a larger paycheck than women. But there are more women managers, and the jobs that men used to occupy are disappearing. It’s still not equal, but it’s getting there. Women have had to work hard to get to this point, and men should, if anything, reexamine the idea that we are being pushed to the sidelines, our rights being trampled on, with the only solution being a return to 1950s masculinity.
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Shannon was an above-average worker in the landscaping industry. She arrived early, worked efficiently, and took pride in her work. The boys on the crew often moseyed in late, and enjoyed taking unscheduled breaks in the shade during the day. When the physical work began to take a toll on the body, they skipped sections, leaving long grass or weeds poking up through an otherwise well-manicured lawn or garden. Shannon, for months, never missed a weed. She had a hawk-like eye for detail and I would treat her to lunch or morning coffees on the company dime to show my appreciation for her hard work.
There is no “war on boys” and no feminist agenda. Women have had to work hard for equal pay and opportunity; we haven’t.
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Then Shannon started to miss sections. She began showing up late, then disappearing for long stretches of the day, splitting from the group. This was upsetting, since she had become my partner, someone like me in regards to work ethic and ability. I relied on her. One morning I caught her sitting down, and confronted her with her recent track record of poor workmanship and laziness. She said nothing, just got up and went back to work. It wasn’t until two days later that I tried a different, more measured, professional approach.
“My teeth hurt,” she said. She opened her mouth wide and I saw what looked like oil spilling out of her molars, black blood congealed around her gums. She had put off dental surgery because she’d wanted to make it through the autumn season, needed the money (she had a son), and was hiding because she didn’t want to me to think that she was being lazy. The guys on the crew would get a sniffle or a slight cough and take a day off. Here she was, two days away from blood poisoning, and she was scared that she would be perceived as weak.
We re-hired Shannon when she was back on her feet. And we hired her because she was an excellent employee and contributed to the growth of the company. We also re-hired a few guys who exhibited the same characteristics that aligned with our company—guys who didn’t complain, who were reliable, who were skilled. You’ve heard this before, but it deserves repeating: at the end of the day, an employee should receive their promotion or pay raise because of the quality of work they do and what they bring to an organization, regardless of gender (and age, sexuality, race, and religion). There is no “war on boys” and no feminist agenda. Women have had to work hard for equal pay and opportunity; we haven’t (yet). And as for arguments that ascribe characteristics to gender, like “communicative” and “empathetic” to women, and “competitive” and “aggressive” for men, ignore them. There are plenty of examples of sensitive, thoughtful men and aggressive, money-driven women.
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We should acknowledge women’s hard work, and look to them as examples of success along with our male heroes. Equality creates a more robust workforce, bringing varied perspectives and solutions to the challenges we face. It isn’t “boys vs. girls,” it’s it’s who’s the better person for the job. There are plenty of qualified players waiting to jump on the field, guys. Complainers and slackers will be cut from the team. So man up.
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This post was originally found here on Jobpostings.ca.
Image iMorpheus/Flickr
I know construction can require a lot of physical strength and lots of manual labor. Maybe that means it is more likely that a grown man on average will be more successful than a grown woman. But, when I see a lot of the work that goes on in construction, I have to say the whole “upper body strength” thing is just one out of many factors, and it’s not exactly decisive. I have the uncalloused hands of a true academic, so I make no claim to firsthand experience here, but I’ve watched the workers build a new building on… Read more »
Im 5.6 and not big…but i can carry two I-beams each 10 t 16 feet(im 19 btw) iv work construction since i was 12(my father firm) and what i can tell you is yea you could carry less stuff…but then you take longer the longer you take on the job site the less you get pay the less profit the contractor makes the more people get sacked the job get scratched….its a matter for fast and neat and safe btw as a laborer you have to do everything your told, you may have seen him sweeping the ground….but after that… Read more »
Man up, MAN UP, this article is a disgrace. Men account for over 90% of on the job deaths, and you are telling them to man up, omfg, this site makes me want to throw up. Why even have the word man in the title, just call it “another feminist blog” and be done with it
@GrahicsGuru Your post was deceitful. I let it go by the first time but since you keep hyping, here are the facts: FALSE: “71 cents earned by women workers for every dollar earned by men” FACT: In 2009,the average full time woman earned 77.0% of what men earned: Figure 2, page 11, 2009 US Census http://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf FACT: In 2010, the average full time woman earned 81.2% of what men earned: Bureau of Labour Statistics, March 2011 report http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2011/women/ FACT: In 2010, among unmarried people who have never had a child, women earned an average of 98% of what men earned:… Read more »
None of what you provided are Canadian statistics. As the story originated in Canada, and as I clearly stated in my post, the facts were compiled from research by Stats CANADA. Please try again.
To my knowledge, those men working construction jobs do so in part because those jobs do not necessarily require anything more than a GED. They work these jobs despite the high risk of injure and death. It seems unlikely that a person in an economically comfortable and privileged position would take such a less than stellar job, even if they enjoy the work. Unless Rhyno has some evidence that most of the men working in the construction industry come from upper-middle class and upper-class families, there is nothing supporting his implication that those men have so many opportunities that they… Read more »
“There is no “war on boys” and no feminist agenda. Women have had to work hard for equal pay and opportunity; we haven’t. ” I invite the author to try this experiment: 1) Visit the two most popular “feminist” sites (“feministe” and “feministing”) and type th word “Ritalin” into the search box. 2) Visit the two most popular “men’s rights” sites (“the spearhead” and a “a voice for men”) and type the word “Ritalin” into the search box. The results will tell you all that you have to know about the feiminst war against boys, and the valiant effort that… Read more »
Get over yourself. Seriously.
Life experience. Try getting some.
Jason, Thanks for sharing your perspective. Where can I reach Shannon? I want to interview her!
YYAAAAAAAAYYY Jason you are my new best friend!! Thank you for representing those of us who work hard and don’t complain, and everyone else who bursts stereotypes. 🙂
LOL@ ‘man up’
The author seems to have written this article from the perspective of a radical female – right out of their playbook with references to the “wage gap”, “women have to work hard for equal pay”, “man up”, etc. One suspects he has been thoroughly brainwashed by feminism throughout his upbringing – or perhaps a female is writing this and pretending to be a man. I’m sixty years old, have spent most of my life in several fields of construction: as a commercial diver, shipwright, telecommunications, material handling and construction management. I’ve seen women come and go in these fields, have… Read more »
“Smart women would NOT join the construction trades.”
So are you calling men who do these jobs dumbasses? Speak for yourself. (Oh, looks like you have!)
I notice both in the article and this comment, that data from Stats Can is referenced. A link would help to understanding contributing and governing factors and influences, as opposed to the declarations of arithmetic.
As for the way “women feel”, get a therapist, there are laws in place to circumvent the need for self mutilation “nip and tucks”. The pathology towards perfection, is indicative of counseling. Baiting for sympathy does not lead to equality, just whining in a different octave.
This is a direct quote from the study you cite, maybe you should read it. “After all, preferential treatment based on attractiveness begins with the behaviors of mothers (Langlois et al., 1995) and other caregivers (Casey & Ritter, 1996; Ritter, Casey, & Langlois, 1991) toward infants.” This statement may also reflect why men “saunter through our 20s in no particular rush to do anything.” The study also suggests that conditions you reference are actually reversed when it comes to education. Attractiveness influenced privilege ans scores. I noticed in your article that you made no mention of interlock, sodding, excavation, decking,… Read more »
Construction jobs: I know women in the military, and women in union jobs who climb ladders with heavy bundles, tile, install floors, paint, and otherwise take part in construction. Some of them are not exactly 95 lbs. soaking wet — some of them are tall and strong and muscular, which does help them with more physically demanding contracts. They also fend off harassment on the job from male co-workers. Of course, then there is my mom — 4’10” and 100lbs. when she was an Army Reservist. Not every woman is fit for every job, but neither is every man. But… Read more »
Show me a 6 foot tall, 200lbs (of muscle) Woman, and I’ll call her a construction worker or a firefighter or a police officer or a soldier
Anything else is a liability and doesn’t belong in those roles
You do know the majority of men are not 6 ft and 200… and most of them do just fine in these jobs.