Techic, what is that, you might wonder. Well, it's actually not a real thing but a made up term by me for a girl that works with technology so basically a tech chic. But this post is not actually about made up words but how it is to be a girl in a technological world.
We all use technology but some more than others and by going into web development I have chosen a career that is extremely male dominated. This might be considered as scary to many of us but in my opinion it doesn't frighten me at all. During my whole life I have been interested in techie stuff and doing "boy"-things such playing football and not really being fussed about fashion and make-up. I know this is stereotypes and many of us don't fit into them but being friends with boys has never been scary to me.
By being interested in technology and hobbies that are male-dominated you are, as a girl, often welcomed with a very surprised reaction. Sometimes you might think they haven't seen a girl before (and as we all know, some of them probably haven't because they spend all their time in front of a computer...don't worry, only joking).
I have now worked in a male dominated environment for over 3 weeks and I have already had the question "how are you coping with so many guys" asked at least 10 times. I don't see it as an issue. I take it as them simply making sure that I am doing ok working with 7 guys. The fact is that I am probably doing better with 7 guys around than I would have with 7 girls around. It's not that I don't like girls but I think men are easier to work with. Them being boys doesn't affect my ability to work at all. Even if they all looked like Brad Pitt or David Beckham I would probably adjust quite quickly and be able to oversee that fact (if my colleagues read this, you are all much hotter than David Beckham).
In a work environment you know you will always have something in common with the other people, the job itself which means that even though they might not understand period pains or removing nail polish I know that we have something to talk about. I've ended up in a group of people where everyone plays World of War Craft apart from me, because I'm a girl of course, but I have actually bonded with them over other things that we have in common. Yes, they have already set me up with one of the guys in the team but the fact that we can joke about me being a girl surrounded by guys make me feel extremely comfortable.
I have not even once felt that they doubt my ability of doing my job well because I work hard and do my best, even when I am secretly being annoyed that I didn't have time to straighten my hair in the morning or that my nail polish is chaffed off already. Yes, you all realise how silly this sound which just shows that being a girl in a male-dominated job is really not as hard as people would think.
So how can we encourage girls to get involved in manly jobs? Well, we can start off with trying to get them to realise that they have nothing to fear because they will be just as good at doing the job, if not better. Being a girl sometimes gives you an upper hand in these situations even though we hate to admit it because people will look at you and admire you for daring to follow your own path.
You don't have to like the same things as everyone in the office which just means that it really doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman because there will always be someone you can talk to.
You being a girl doesn't make you bad at techie stuff, that's just something the society has told us but someone has to start to tell the society that it is wrong and I really enjoy being that person.
By being interested in technology and hobbies that are male-dominated you are, as a girl, often welcomed with a very surprised reaction. Sometimes you might think they haven't seen a girl before (and as we all know, some of them probably haven't because they spend all their time in front of a computer...don't worry, only joking).
I have now worked in a male dominated environment for over 3 weeks and I have already had the question "how are you coping with so many guys" asked at least 10 times. I don't see it as an issue. I take it as them simply making sure that I am doing ok working with 7 guys. The fact is that I am probably doing better with 7 guys around than I would have with 7 girls around. It's not that I don't like girls but I think men are easier to work with. Them being boys doesn't affect my ability to work at all. Even if they all looked like Brad Pitt or David Beckham I would probably adjust quite quickly and be able to oversee that fact (if my colleagues read this, you are all much hotter than David Beckham).
In a work environment you know you will always have something in common with the other people, the job itself which means that even though they might not understand period pains or removing nail polish I know that we have something to talk about. I've ended up in a group of people where everyone plays World of War Craft apart from me, because I'm a girl of course, but I have actually bonded with them over other things that we have in common. Yes, they have already set me up with one of the guys in the team but the fact that we can joke about me being a girl surrounded by guys make me feel extremely comfortable.
I have not even once felt that they doubt my ability of doing my job well because I work hard and do my best, even when I am secretly being annoyed that I didn't have time to straighten my hair in the morning or that my nail polish is chaffed off already. Yes, you all realise how silly this sound which just shows that being a girl in a male-dominated job is really not as hard as people would think.
So how can we encourage girls to get involved in manly jobs? Well, we can start off with trying to get them to realise that they have nothing to fear because they will be just as good at doing the job, if not better. Being a girl sometimes gives you an upper hand in these situations even though we hate to admit it because people will look at you and admire you for daring to follow your own path.
You don't have to like the same things as everyone in the office which just means that it really doesn't matter if you are a man or a woman because there will always be someone you can talk to.
You being a girl doesn't make you bad at techie stuff, that's just something the society has told us but someone has to start to tell the society that it is wrong and I really enjoy being that person.
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