Reply #6: My advice [View All]

[juno jones]

As a professional cook who has worked up from dishwasher at a time when many of my fellow male cooks thought cucumbers were a funny joke and held the esteemed opinion that women were unsuited to cook professionally...Do what you can. If you really want this job,
tough it out if you have to. If the weight is absolutely too much (I have carried 100# bags of potatoes...in a miniskirt!!!), ask politely for help. Actually, I have had very good luck in getting help from my male counterparts...once I showed them that I could handle it...its messed up, but it seems to be male psychology, yes, if you are blazing trails in a woman-deficient industry you might have to prove something from time to time...

However, you do have an interesting point there with the possible sexism in the skilled hiring. If you are mandated to lift 50 pounds for several months before you can be hired for skilled work, that could quite possibly be sexist...I know many women who could not lift that weight constantly ...if they would not hire a woman with the pertinent skills for a skilled desk job until they had cleared an arbitrary physical barrier, THAT would be sexual discrimination. If this pertains to you and you have a lot of time in with this company, you might want to check in with a civil rights lawyer.

Otherwise, If it is that bad, take this experience, part on the best terms possible and find a job with a similar company...maybe keeping an eye out for businesses either owned or operated by women. Not always a guarantee, but it might be a change...