Did you say MCP???

I was holding off from writing this blog but I saw this question on TV 'Are we ready for a woman president yet?' or some news about 'Women's Rights' and I was thinking about it and in the end I thought I'd just go ahead and write this blog.

I don't know how many of you have frequently dealt with Male chauvinists in your lives, I feel lucky because I didn't have to deal with male chauvinists for the majority of my life. Ever since I was a child I have always enjoyed a level playing ground. In fact, in high school I studied in a class where the first 5 to 10 rank holders were all girl kids and even engineering college was quite good there were no signs of chauvinism anywhere...and same was the story with grad school.

So, pretty much until the completion of grad school I had never witnessed male chauvinism or even seen men who thought they were superior or had an edge over women. I did witness something weird upon graduating from grad school and when I was searching for my first job. It took me a little over two months to find a job so, during that time I was generally getting advice from others (both solicited and unsolicited).

I happened to talk to this man and some of the stuff that he mentioned really did strike me as odd. Here's some stuff that I still happen to remember: 'mostly employers don't prefer women because they need to provide them maternity leave', 'Why do you need a really good job? if you happen to get a really good one then you wouldn't want to quit it even if you get married to someone in a different city', 'If you get married to someone in a different city, what will you tell your employer that you'll telecommute?', When I mentioned that interviews went well he was like 'yea, probably the manager just flirted with you'.

I do understand some (actually just one) of the stuff mentioned above like having to take maternity leave but I fail to comprehend the need to settle for a mediocre job so that I wouldn't feel bad when I have to quit!! I still don't get it!! Wouldn't you rather have a good job to work on irrespective of what happens in the future. I do understand that some decisions need to be future proof like buying electronics, appliances, retirement investments, etc...but doing a mediocre job so that you won't feel bad when quitting is just beyond me!! The closest analogy I can think of is "Fall sick totally don't treat your illness that way others won't feel bad when you die because there's the comforting thought that you were a sick person and you would have died anyway" On any day I would opt for a good job that way if I need to quit, I would at least have had job satisfaction and would have pocketed more money.

I understand maybe I can get lucky with one job interview because some flirted with me, but can you really get lucky with 3 out of 4 job interviews especially when you are interviewed by people of either gender???

Well, I did hear the advice and I did what I do best with such obnoxious advices just ignored it and took a job which I thought was something that I liked...I like it still...so, I guess I made the right call after all.

So, after all this ranting of mine here's the inside scoop I'm really thankful for the kind of men that I have in my life be it my father or my soon to be husband or friends they have all been great. I know what I dealt with isn't the most vulgar exhibition of chauvinism but I do feel bad for the women who happen to be a part of the lives of such men. I really don't envy them. I guess it's my time to feel content for all the goodwill that has been shown towards me by the people of the opposite gender in my life :)

Who gave them jobs??

I always wonder how some people managed to get into hi-tech sector with their sub par knowledge. Even though I have nothing against them, I sometimes find it annoying when they ask me really stupid questions like why don't you use notepad instead of emacs? or ask me if I have a digital camera when I say I'm interested in photography!!! or asking how to switch on an mp3 player, or asking for an example for using every single Tcl command, or sometimes just by saying 'I just want a workaround' when they don't even know what the actual problem is!!! Sometimes not even knowing how to calculate log values even with a scientific calculator!!!

I agree I'm not the smartest person that ever lived but I can clearly see why I'm not dumb. One thing that I think of most of the times is how others deal with these people? Do they get as annoyed as I do? How do they react when asked lame questions? Do they laugh at the question and make the other person get the message that the question isn't worth replying at all? or do they just answer it one time and then just stay away from this person???

I do understand that not everyone knows everything but it's beyond me to see how they cannot understand the obvious!!! How could someone not be ashamed of being an illiterati? How can they not bring themselves to know things that they were already supposed to know but which they don't know yet??

But as much as I get annoyed, I really do admire their ability to actually get the job or survive in hi-tech sector only because they have to for a variety of reasons and not because they actually want to do this. IMO most people would be equally happy and far more satisfied doing some other not to tech job. But still it makes me wonder if they really like doing what they do?? Wouldn't you actually lose interest when you are made to work on something that you don't care about?????? I sure do wish I could be them for just a day and really see for myself as to what goes on in their minds!!!!