Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Modern Sexism?

Last year I was jobless and desperate. I was so desperate I was ready to go into....


Retail.


I figured I knew music better than average folk, and so when I walked by the local music shop and noticed it was hiring I walked in to ask for an application.

Do you know what I was told?

No.

I asked why. (apparently pending humiliation does not act as a strong deterrent.)

We don't hire girls.

I asked why again. (I have no shame)

The hours are long.

Sir, I currently work 12 hour night shifts. I can work. (No I do not know WHY I remained there.)

The shifts are dangerous.

I am hardly someone people mess with. *insert angry eyes*

We have a policy to only hire men.

So me and my curvalilciousness marched right outta there.

I vowed to never ever buy anything from there ever again. No matter how great of a deal it was.

But I failed.

The Fi took me on a date on Saturday and before the movie we ravaged this shop like never before. The sale... was astonishing. R10 per CD. That's $1. Per.CD. *sigh* and they weren't terrible CDs. We scored. And I gloated. In front of the the very man who told me last year I couldn't work there. I have no problem helping him lose money. Surely after this sale, the products that don't sell will be put back on the rack for R180. That's R170 you lose dumb Afrikaans chauvinist. Suck on that!

With great thanks to the Fi, I realised my own hypocrisy. I worked as a cocktail waitress previous to this conversation. I was hired on the spot as most waitresses are and I happened to be one of the longest working female waitresses there. For good reason. But I digress.

I overheard one of my managers turn down a girl because she wasn't pretty enough. What kind of discrimination is that? It's crap and I knew it. At that moment I should have quit. I should have waltzed right outta there. But I didn't.

So as I complain that I was born the wrong gender, I myself removed the rights of the other girl by staying there. By enabling those men to pick and choose and even getting an ego trip out, I became no better than the company who refused to hire women.

So while the man sucks on my wicked deal, I gotta suck on my own inadequacies.

*sigh*

Even I contribute to the discrimination in society.

7 comments:

AndreaLeigh said...

Wow! I guess in his own misguided way, he was trying to protect you? Who knows. Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Random Hiccups said...

Perhaps he was. I hadn't really thought of it this way. Although, I am of the opinion that working anywhere in South Africa where the general pubic has access to you is dangerous. Safety isn' found admist fifty men.

Who knows why this company has this policy! Whatever their reason, it was hardly viable!

Thanks for dropping by and commenting!

ScoMan said...

Curse my evil gender!

I'm sure that most girls could work longer hours than me, are less clumsy than me and would handle themselves better in a dangerous situation that I would.

Apparently, that company doesn't agree with me (I really think you should have named and shamed them)

Random Hiccups said...

Name and Shame... Like the sound of that!

Thanks for the comment! :)Glad to see you haven't fallen off the blogger world yet!

Kimberly said...

I agree, modern sexism, though it's come a long way from the fifties, it's still out there, whatever your gender.

Briya said...

Yep, still exists...sometimes, though it's in our favor. Other times, well... it's not fair other times.

Anonymous said...

Oy....retail!