Just a GIRL!

I am female. Its something that I have no control over, I was born this way. Never needed to appologize for it as far as I was concerned but to some you'd think it was a disease or a handicap that causes me to be a menace to society or a human being that is capable of less. The love of my life believes with me that women can do anything that they want to but that they shouldn't HAVE to do it. It shouldn't be a matter of they have no choice but to do it all by themselves (whether we are talking about lifting heavy items or financing a household). He still believes that if a man is there he should atleast offer to help. Not because she is incapable as a woman but because he was raised that a man always lends a hand and treats others that way. And I agree but he also knows that there are times when I have to prove that I can do it because I'm tired of hearing that old phrase "you're just a girl" as a reason why I "can't " do something.

This past week was no exception. On one day at work, I was the only person to help this "gentleman" out with his bags of top soil. He had 10 of them and each one isn't really too heavy so it wasn't a big deal to me. You would have thought we were trying to give him an infant to load his soil for him though. He looked down at me and I quote "But you're a girl" actually came out of his mouth! I bit my tongue and smiled the best I could. I explained to him that I used to unload trucks and that I would be just fine. He still wanted to know if there was anybody else around to help but there was just me so we started out with him still looking for a reason why I shouldn't. I explained that I had done this many times and that I also worked on cars. I told him (sweetly of course) that he should see me underneath a Chevy Blazer changing out a transmission. When he finally picked his chin up off of the ground we were at his vehicle. As he straightened the back up to fit the bags I picked up two and got ready to load them. Again his eyes bugged out and his chin hit the ground. I was carry two at a time. He didn't know what to do so he tried to grab one to put in because he didn't want to be shown up by "just a girl". Needless to say, he put in one bag and I put in nine. I told him to have a nice day and went inside.

It was degrading though. I so badly wanted to tell him to load his own soil then because if I wasn't good enough than he could do it himself! Its not usually quite so in the open when they do it but still maddening. This was just insulting on top of a really good way to make me mad!

The very next day though, a guy had his hood up as I pulled into work and another was trying to pull his vehicle up to the front of it in the hopes of jump starting it I guess. Well, with a mechanic boyfriend and some brains, I know some and I also have ALOT of tools and such in my trunk. Being the person that I am, I walked over to the guys and asked if they were having problems and if they needed anything. I got the "look" again... the surprise than disgust upon realizeing that "yes, its a girl". Well, the second guy had finally gotten his vehicle positioned in the right spot but was now having trouble figuring out how to open his own hood so I finally took pity on them dispite their attitude and popped his hood. Then I went back to my car to watch and wait. Sure enough, they had no clue and were apparently trying to kill both batteries and atleast one of the starters in the process plus a few other parts just for fun because I cringed as I watched them work. It was pitiful but I didn't offer them anymore help because as just a girl I don't know anything about cars or engines.

I've had similar problems during the Demo season because I am under hoods with my boyfriend and other mechanics try to push me out of the way. Well, little do they know that next year, they'll be driving against me and they won't like the fact that i won't let my pit crew work on their cars unless I come with. Its a team ... a package deal!

Its everywhere and yet its not always so verbalized and pronounced but I get more crap than people realize just because I am a girl! Its rediculous. We fought for our rights and look at where we are now. In the same boat in some ways. If this is where we are after this many years of fighting, imagine how long it is going to take the gay rights movement to get anywhere. How long will it be before the definition of equality and America's definition of equality coincide?

Share this post on:

 •    •    •    •    •