If anyone tries to tell me that sexism is not a thing in our society anymore, then I will probably call them an idiot.
Sexism is when the mostly male security staff ignores or disregards everything that the female House Manager says, and they instead ask the male Assistant House Manager, who repeats exactly what she said, and they listen to him. The content is identical, but it gains more legitimacy simply because it came from a man's mouth.
Sexism is when an assertive female usher is doing her job by asking faculty and graduates (mostly male) to stand elsewhere so that they do not block a pathway, and they ignore her; then as soon as I ask them to stand elsewhere, they listen to me and clear a path. Even though she spoke much more forcefully than I did, and we said the exact same thing, my words gained more legitimacy simply because they came from a man's mouth.
Sexism doesn't exist in our society? Please.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Expertise
I think a sign of expertise in a field or job is when you reach the point where you are no longer concerned with the "what if" situations. You trust your own abilities in the position to the point where you know that you know how to approach any problem presented, even if it is a new problem.
I think of my job as a House Manager at Cal Performances. There are hundreds of things that could go wrong during a show. However, I don't spend my off-time thinking about how to respond to all the hypotheticals. Rather, I know that I am skilled at my job, and I will be able to think on my feet to solve any problem.
Conversely, consider my position as a student. I am far from an expert in my field. And I also find myself constantly considering the "what if"s of problems that could be asked of me in classes (I discussed this a bit in a previous post). I think that these phenomena are highly correlated. I am not confident enough in my academic field to adequately approach any problem handed to me; as a result, I worry about the "what if"s. I worry about a problem that I don't think I will be able to solve; whereas in my Cal Performances job, I don't worry, because I know I will be able to confront any problem I am presented.
I think of my job as a House Manager at Cal Performances. There are hundreds of things that could go wrong during a show. However, I don't spend my off-time thinking about how to respond to all the hypotheticals. Rather, I know that I am skilled at my job, and I will be able to think on my feet to solve any problem.
Conversely, consider my position as a student. I am far from an expert in my field. And I also find myself constantly considering the "what if"s of problems that could be asked of me in classes (I discussed this a bit in a previous post). I think that these phenomena are highly correlated. I am not confident enough in my academic field to adequately approach any problem handed to me; as a result, I worry about the "what if"s. I worry about a problem that I don't think I will be able to solve; whereas in my Cal Performances job, I don't worry, because I know I will be able to confront any problem I am presented.
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