- Samuel Cirk,
Hairstylist
“How did you get that job?”
While most professionals hear the above question based on merit and genuine curiosity, a select few get asked the question based on pure sarcasm and discrimination.
As a woman in sports journalism, I have experienced my share of sarcastic and discriminatory remarks from fellow professionals and peers simply because “women don’t belong in sports,” as I have routinely been told.
From varying “looks” to fellow professionals asking me what “sexual favors” I have performed on my superior males to nab a sports editor position, derogatory and inappropriate workplace comments are a common hurdle for women in male dominated careers to overcome.
However, according to the general public, gender equality is promoted in American careers; gender discrimination is an early 1900s ideal people in the 21st century have overcome. Kindergarten teachers today tell children women can grow up to be whomever they please: presidents, police officers, fire fighters, or sports writers. Likewise, men can grow up to be whomever they please: hairdressers, teachers, stay-at-home dads, or fashion designers.
But is the “everyone is equal” in the workplace mantra really a reality?
“You’re a very pretty girl in a field filled with cocky, testosterone-driven guys,” my uncle once told me when I decided to pursue a sports writing career. “Be careful.”
As a naïve college freshman, I probably rolled by eyes at my sports editor uncle.
“Times have changed,” I told myself. “I just have to prove myself and work hard.”
Now, four years later, I have learned my uncle’s warning was closer to reality than my wishful thinking.
I have interviewed high school boy’s basketball players who have said inappropriate comments under their breath after speaking with me. I have had a collegiate coach tell me I should, “Stick to broadcast sports journalism, because I have the ‘look.’”
I have had male reporters during a press conference cut me off while asking a question, simply because they felt they had authority.
And I have had anonymous commenters write in response to my sports columns, “Like you would know, you’re just a girl”; “You’re only writing about (given male athlete) because you have a crush on them”; and “Why don’t you go back to your place in the kitchen.”
In a time when it seems as if gender equality has been nearly reached in the workplace, why do minority gendered professionals still receive ridicule from dominate peers? Will women in male dominated fields or men in female dominated fields ever overcome the constant “chip on my shoulder” feeling?
Even outside sports, in similarly gender-separated careers, the stereotype ideal is hard to avoid.
“People constantly ask me if I’m gay,” Samuel Cirk, a male stylist who works in the Chicago-area, noted. “I have the same repertoire as the females in my field, yet their sexuality and credibility is rarely, if ever, questioned.”
Likewise, Chelsea Gully, an Illinois State junior pursuing a career as a police officer, has faced adversity in the classroom when she alerts her professors of her job ambitions.
“Professors have asked me if I’m sure I want to be a female police officer,” she said. “They question me a lot and are almost sarcastic about it. If I’m getting this attitude from teachers, I can only imagine the discrimination I will receive when I actually enter the workforce.”
However, Cirk and Gully both agree the adversity in the workplace can also serve as a motivator.
“I feel like I have something to prove, and as someone who likes a challenge, it makes my career choice that much more exciting,” Gully said.
“I feel like I perform better knowing I’m one of the few men in my field,” Cirk added. “As weird as it sounds, it makes me strive for better because I have things stacked against me. I want to prove people wrong.”
Similar to them, being one of the very few women in the field of sports journalism is thrilling and I enjoy trying to prove wrong the people who give me abnormal looks, say inappropriate comments behind my back, and question my credibility and knowledge.
“Among all the hate, I get very little praise,” I have told my dad in regards to my experience in sports journalism. “But when I do get a positive comment about what I do, it makes all the difficulties worth it.”
So although people may ask me, Cirk, or Gully how we got our jobs, we can tell them through hard work and perseverance.