I don’t feel that I’ve been pulling my (don’t joke about my!) weight recently, as the resident female, with regard to posts about feminism. So I thought i’d share a few tidbits from working in a technology store.

Let me start out by saying that my coworkers have rarely (if ever) given me cause to think that they don’t think I can do something based upon my gender. I used to get offers to carry computers for me: “You sure you got that?” and they are heavy or questions about my ability to carry two boxes of (10) iPhones at once, but I’m not certain I can pin that on a gender issue. They open doors for me when I’ve got my hands full, as do I for them.

Recently, three additional women were hired, bringing the total number of women I work with to an astonishing 9 (of, say, 50). When I was doing training, someone did make the remark that, ever since [the female hiring manager] became the hiring manager, there have been more women hired. Which proves to me that the correct decision was made when she was made hiring manager…

I recently successfully applied for a position in the “Grow Your Own” program to train to be a Genius. Thus far, I’ve not heard a whiff of concern about my abilities based upon my gender. My coworker in GYO is a guy and the two of us have some friendly rivalry (“How far are you?”). And we get to spend some time at the Genius Bar, but not a whole lot, and not doing much beyond replacing people’s iPods, iPhones, and batteries (and doing paperwork).

Mostly, as I’ve discussed before, I get sexism from the customers, who I generally have to treat well. Recently, a caveman wandered in with a question that, (and here he sized me up) I might not be able to answer, seeing as how it’s such a technical issue. I bristled and mentally lowered my center of balance. We then went into mental tai sabaki, and eventually I (mentally) threw him with a one-point harai goshi. He left, slightly stunned, not quite sure what happened to him, which is a sign of a good throw, and with the answer to his question.

When I went in the back to take a few deep breaths, the store manager told me a story of when he was in training. His trainer, a woman, was standing with him behind the counter. When people came up, they addressed all their questions to him, despite his protestations that she was the more knowledgeable.

All in all, it’s a great work place and I never feel passed over or out of place (even if I work with mostly men). They do occasionally apologize to me after swearing, tho, which I just find amusing. But working in technology, it’s interesting to see the reactions of other people to my gender.