#bluecollarwomen

[thetetra]

So I am a reddit refugee (kind of) and I am going to share a story I told to /r/bluecollarwomen.

I work in a big industrial site with like 10 or 12 businesses on site. This place was a party when Trump got elected and a site of mourning when he lost his 2nd bid for president. I am a large white male so I am the invisible leftist... right up until I shout about something but that's a series of other stories.

There is this person I saw from time to time. The son of one of the larger company's owners. Always dressed to the 9s in perfectly clean and well kept goth/emo attire. Black on black with dark blue highlights and so forth.

Their body language was always like they're under assault. Cringing from welding flashes or loud equipment starting up as they went from the office out to a smoke break or to the bathroom.

Any time I noticed them and started checking out their outfits I would get a glare so I stopped even looking their way. Its not my right to get a good look at their latest Zim hoodie or clinking with buckles roach stompers.

Very recently I noticed them with their hair dyed blue and they weren't stooped over and flinching. So I stopped and checked out what was up thinking "maybe today they're quitting?" This would be quite the upset because their father expects them to take over the company some day.

That's when it happened. She walked right into the ladies room. I guess the Boss' son has transitioned and is now the Boss' daughter and... I am just so proud of them. all that courage. all the anxiety they just... let go of.

I remember thinking "Oh good for you"

I hope they thrive in their transition.

PS it is several months later now and I have it on fairly consistent rumors that she was finally able to go to college and get an education.

On less consistent rumors a grandparent stepped in and demanded the family pay for college and so forth for them or people were getting their share of the will donated to a charity.

They are doing something with computers? But I asked a friend about it and he told me two things that I will paraphrase because I don't really know that much about computer people's world.

1) they are too early on in their Comp Sci degree to have the specific goals I explained from rumors

2) The role they are apparently shooting for is the sort of thing where you are in charge of a huge facility's computers and are well paid and important (sys admin?)

[swantonbomb]

me finding r/bluecollarwomen

[thetetra]

I will always be sad about the great little corners reddit had. /r/bluecollarwomen was a great place to show women because they could share their stories there and someone would share how it had happened to them too and they did X Y and Z and it came out alright.

Or I could go to a subreddit full of knowledgeable people on a subject and submit my questions and either have a super nice time where they answered my questions or be called and idiot.... and they answered my questions. Either way I had expert knowledge shared with me.

Peace and love on the planet earth

[brandonbingmusic]

Brandon’s Blue Collar Swaller is at 95k on YouTube, let’s get it to 100k! https://youtu.be/SRKI-G4OlYE. #share #bluecollar #dancing #dance #music #jcreekcloggers #love #fiddle #bluecollarbrotherhood #linedancing #bluecollarworkers #bluecollargoldswagger #bluecollarproud #bluecollarbabe #bluecollarworker #bluecollarlifestyle #bluecollarbadass #bluecollarworkingdog #party #spotify #bluecollarman #partytime #bluecollarmindset #bluecollargang #bluecollarwomen

[hvacreferguy]

Huge shout out to @lizsandwith and congrats on being the first. There are some many opportunities in the Blue Collar Industries for men and women. Now is the time to Make Blue Collar Great. Be sure to give this tradeswoman a follow. #congrats #success #payitforward #bluecollar #bluecollarlife #bluecollarwomen #newbrunswick #hvac #airconditioning #refrigeration #empoweringwomen #empowerment (at New Brunswick) https://www.instagram.com/hvac_refer_guy/p/BuyfOGTAwOu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1aem43b8m5sdq

[highvoltageindustries]

Never been so sure of anything ⚡️ . . . . #lineman #linemanschool #aspiringlineman #dreamjob #livingthedream #whatsafearofheights #upabovetheworldsohigh #signedthebooks #bluecollarbabes #bluecollarbabe #bluecollarwomen #hardhatlife #hardhatwomen #carharttwomen #buckbuilt Repost from @britthollawhiskey https://www.instagram.com/p/CZAj2qTPcnW/?utm_medium=tumblr

[wild-wombytch]

I'd add that men will complain about how women don't do blue collar jobs as much as men, yet will sexually harass, insult and overall make a hostile environment to blue collar women. Not even counting the time when the break/lunch room is full of porn on the walls or the homophobia if they suppose you're a lesbian or the culture of talking sexually about minors. And soxiety is really good at making women feel like thery don't belong or are unattractive to men if they do better than them in blue collar jobs. That's I guess an even bigger insult to theur fragile egos than women succeeding in school.

Tbh, when I was younger the one redeeming quality I thought my father had was that I thought he was brilliant at fixing stuff...looking at *how* he "fixed" stuff in our house today, after researching a bit...I can say I'm deeply unimpressed. That's literally lazy, dirty and unsafe work that destroys the things around. The same way, the men who originally built the social housing I live in literally managed to assemble one of the heater with inverted valves (not sure if it is clear at all in English, but essentially, they did a shit job). They also covered their shitty jobs on the walls with wallpaper... Like, men genuinely are not half as smart and caring/meticulous/neat as they (and many women) think they are. I think that's one of the reasons why they're so insecure and demeaning of women who do "their" jobs. Because if there were more blue collar women, they'd lose their jobs because nobody would cover for their nasty attitudes, nasty work and coming drunk at work (lif you haven't an experience in a blue collar job and need some samples of what it's like, check r/BlueCollarWomen on Reddit. This is also the least toxic sub I know, very supportive, with many smart, strong and inspiring women). And they know they'd fail the other option of higher education. And women may go to college more as to stay in a "comfort" lane where they won't be agressively belittled every day by gross men.

As for why women do better work, I think it's just because our dense of worth is so conflated with how we transactionally benefit society rather than our personalities, how women's self-esteem is so low that they overcompensate and how we know instinctively that a man doing a shit job is perfectly acceptable but that a women doing the same will get called dumb bitches and get some comment about needing to marry a competent man or only having a future in prostitution or shits like that. So since the bar is so high for us and so low for men, we learn to work better. At least that's my two cents.

on the news this morning they were doing that "ohhh so sad, more girls are going to college than boys 😔 how do we fix this?" thing and like...this isn't even a fully formed thought, but i've noticed in a lot of male-dominated discussion spaces, there's a growing disdain for academia and office workers and an insistence that trade jobs are the only professions worth going into, along with an idea that women only complain about sexism in cushy office jobs and make no effort to get into blue-collar fields. and like, i'm not saying it's necessarily true and i haven't done research into it, but it got me wondering if there could be some correlation there, in either direction? like could the idea that book learnin' is for suckers be linked to women's growing success in education? or (more likely in my opinion) that it's the very fact that more boys are growing up thinking school is for losers that leads to them not trying in school and/or not applying to college? is it not possible that all this worry over boys' academic performance is all over nothing? and if they're right that manual labor is the wiser, more lucrative choice, what's even the problem? aren't they just being Boy Bosses, or whatever?

[the-plumbinator-round-rock-blog]

Plumbing #Apprentice Brittany is back from #maternityleave and helping out in the office before diving back into #plumbing repair. Welcome back, Bri! . . . . . . . . . #theplumbinatorroundrock #womenatwork #bluecollarwomen #womeninthetrades #womeninbiz #womenplumbers #welcomeback #babiesatwork #maternityleaveisover #plumber #roundrock #RoundRockTexas #RoundRockTX #Hutto #HarrellTX #GeorgetownTX #Pflugerville #CedarParkTX #WestlakeHills #WestlakeVillage #lakewaytx #jarrell #ATX #Austin #AustinTexas #AustinTX (at The Plumbinator Round Rock) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnZJL1zBotX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vcxz034ee5dx

[dirtyminerclothingandapparel]

Thank you @chloe_plant_op for the great feedback about our new gear and we love having you on board as we move forward with our WIM initiative! 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 🅳🅸🆁🆃🆈🅼🅸🅽🅴🆁® AUTHENTIC & OFFICIAL BRAND www.DirtyMiner.ca 🇨🇦 👈 www.DirtyMiner.com 🇺🇸 www.DirtyMiner.co.za 🇿🇦 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲 #WIM #womeninmining #bluecollarwomen #dirtyminersUK #dirtyminerapparel (at United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/CO6X5MirGUv/?igshid=1chya6bpny3dm

[mattodomphoto]

Recently, I had the opportunity to photograph at a new Amazon Distribution Center that's opening in Macon,Ga/and photograped the facility and some of the workers... Cinnamon makes sure that orders are all ready to hit the belt to head out the facility door 📸 📦 #workingwoman #bluecollarwomen #commercialphotographer #commercialphotography #wonderfulmachine #photooftheday #photography📷 #photo #photographylife #canon5dmarkiv #canonusa #teamcanon #environmentalportrait #environmentalportraits #portrait #industrialphotographer #industrialphotography https://www.instagram.com/p/B2mgeWzg54L/?igshid=1rzljkxbpxifr

[icehot13]

i am officially a fourth-year apprentice and to celebrate, i finally bought a Real Tester, which i was supposed to have like three years ago, and a nut driver set, which i’ve always been in denial of needing, so now i really have ALL (ok almost all bc fuck chisels) the tool list i’ve supposed to have had. true cause for celebration.

also my raise coincides with the raise everyone gets under the new agreement which is neat, unions are great and as i will keep saying forever, don’t be afraid to consider construction! this union (and i assume others) lets you come in knowing N O T H I N G and will give you a real skillset! it’s sweet how everyone always phrases it as “this trade has been good to me” and i find it oddly adorable that it’s such a common thing these dudes say, but it feels true, just like they say the union is a family, because it really can be. also, employment feels so very different under a union - unemployment is less scary, and you feel like you have something standing between you and your company to protect you if you need it. i recognize that all unions and even locals are different and that not all experiences are like mine, but i want to share mine as much as i can because it is an option worth exploring that a lot of people, especially women!!!!!, would not consider otherwise because construction can feel inaccessible or even something you wouldn’t even think to look into. i had never in my life heard of the electrical union before this, so i never would have tried it. 

i didn’t mean to start going on about it but it’s hard not to ok, i am so passionate!!!! women in trades!!!!!! construction seems intmidating from the outside but it’ll show you how truly capable you are!!! 

anyways my real point here was that i am getting in the mail a tester, nut drivers, and most importantly, metal straws i am SO EXCITED to get. 

[riconastty]

i love women so much💞

[thebluecollarmilennial-blog]

#trades #tradeswomen #tradesmen #learntoworkwithyourhands #raiseyourchildrenright #bluecollarworkers #bluecollarmillennial #bluecollarmillennials #bluecollarmoney #bluecollarwomen #bluecollarmen #bluecollarmoney https://www.instagram.com/p/BppLRxBHuJY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=pzj3eabefuxg

[femmeleft-blog]

Calling all non-male identifying teachers and students! We are launching a Self-Liberation Skillshare Series. Teach a class! Take a class! Defy your class! We believe that our liberation starts within - through radical self-reliance and self-love. We hope this series will empower the femmes in our community!

Fill out our survey here to stay in touch and to give your input on the classes:

femmeleft.com/events

[brandonbingmusic]

Brandon’s Blue Collar Swaller is at 95k on YouTube, let’s get it to 100k! https://youtu.be/SRKI-G4OlYE. #share #bluecollar #bluecollarbrotherhood #bluecollarlife #bluecollarpimps #supportbluecollar #bluecollarworkers #bluecollargoldswagger #bluecollarproud #bluecollarbabe #bluecollarworker #bluecollarlifestyle #bluecollardiesel #bluecollarbabes #projectbluecollar #bluecollarbadass #bluecollarboys #bluecollarworkingdog #bluecollarnation #bluecollarbeards #bluecollarman #bluecollarvintagesalvage #bluecollarmindset #bluecollargang #bluecollarwomen

[hvacreferguy]

Here’s a couple of pages that are growing in numbers and their social media is ran by some smart and empowering ladies. Check them out and give them a follow. #empowerment #ladies #bluecollarwomen #bluecollar #australia #phoenix #electricians #paving #asphalt #asphaltpaving (at Goodyear, Arizona) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bz5fFqZBKdw/?igshid=1axziqf1j87zy