That's true sexism
Why do the women I work with refuse to lift anything over 10 kilos (22lb)? They say it's "too heavy". They say they "can't manage". That it's "a man's job" (all three are direct quotes). They're convinced that heavy lifting is man's work, not theirs.
Whilst I agree that men clearly have greater natural upper body strength than women, and when it comes to truly heavy lifting (picking tumble dryers up and putting them on a high shelf, for example) men are the obvious choice, the idea that anything that requires even a minimal amount of strength to do is automatically man's work rather thn womens doesn't make any kind of sense.
Ignoring the whole feminism debate, I just have a few questions I'd dearly love to ask these women (but I'm already in enough trouble at work without getting accused of sexism).
"Do you have any children?", I'd like to ask, knowing full well that the women in question are in fact parents. "How much did they weigh when they were toddlers?", Knowing full well the average weight of a toddler is over 10 kilos.
I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. A toddler weighs more than these objects they claim are too heavy, and older child weighs twice as much and more. And yet women around the world have no problems routinely picking their children up, often whilst they're struggling to get away.
The job requires lifting. It's mostly low weight but there are heavy objects from time to time. You know this when you apply for the job.
Why the fuck do people apply for a job they then refuse to do, citing the most ridiculous of sexist arguments as a reason to get out of doing it?
I, as a man, can't crack jokes about a women's place in the modern workplace because that'd be "sexist" behaviour and I'd be sacked quicker than if I knocked out my boss. But women can unilaterally decide exactly what tasks are and aren't men's work without so much as a second thought. The lifting arguement is just one example of blatant sexism in the workplace, but its the easiest one to point out just how ludicrous the double-standard is.
Just to add a postscript: I know not all women behave like this all the time, I could name a few at my current job (in other departments, not mine) that do pitch in with the truly heavy stuff. But they are the exceptional minority, not the norm.
Whilst I agree that men clearly have greater natural upper body strength than women, and when it comes to truly heavy lifting (picking tumble dryers up and putting them on a high shelf, for example) men are the obvious choice, the idea that anything that requires even a minimal amount of strength to do is automatically man's work rather thn womens doesn't make any kind of sense.
Ignoring the whole feminism debate, I just have a few questions I'd dearly love to ask these women (but I'm already in enough trouble at work without getting accused of sexism).
"Do you have any children?", I'd like to ask, knowing full well that the women in question are in fact parents. "How much did they weigh when they were toddlers?", Knowing full well the average weight of a toddler is over 10 kilos.
I'm sure you can see where I'm going with this. A toddler weighs more than these objects they claim are too heavy, and older child weighs twice as much and more. And yet women around the world have no problems routinely picking their children up, often whilst they're struggling to get away.
The job requires lifting. It's mostly low weight but there are heavy objects from time to time. You know this when you apply for the job.
Why the fuck do people apply for a job they then refuse to do, citing the most ridiculous of sexist arguments as a reason to get out of doing it?
I, as a man, can't crack jokes about a women's place in the modern workplace because that'd be "sexist" behaviour and I'd be sacked quicker than if I knocked out my boss. But women can unilaterally decide exactly what tasks are and aren't men's work without so much as a second thought. The lifting arguement is just one example of blatant sexism in the workplace, but its the easiest one to point out just how ludicrous the double-standard is.
Just to add a postscript: I know not all women behave like this all the time, I could name a few at my current job (in other departments, not mine) that do pitch in with the truly heavy stuff. But they are the exceptional minority, not the norm.