More Men-and-Women Issues

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Weyalan

My partner (now wife ) is more experienced in boatbuilding / refit etc than I am. I'm entirely comfortable to say that. I'm stronger than her. I'm a qualified design engineer. She has better manual dexterity than me. When we do a job, we chat about it for a while, then I design it, she tells me how she thinks we should build it. I do the heavy power tool stuff, she does the more fiddly / tricky stuff. We build it together and are comfortable working together using each of our relative strengths.
FWIW... I do a lot more cooking than her, but she does more cleaning than me... its a partnership, but that doesn't mean we are the same, it just means that we are comfortable in our differences.

Nice one...

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Aint seen so much 'Ass Kissin' in years...
Anjou... think you just got voted 'CF Pin Up 2011'....

ROFPMSL.... well Boatman, didn't you just join the rush!

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by detav007

This line of thought has merit, I hadn't thought about it really until just then but men, for the most part, when left to their own devices are crude, insensitive and usually out of line. Perhaps as you're doing a lot of "man" work they're treating you as such. Men are pigs, but we do have some redeeming qualities.

It has been my understanding from women who have spoken of the special women's meetings to me over the years; that women when together are worst than us pigs!

[tropicalescape]

I love left handed girls..they do everything Better than men ,left handed or other wise....??

[bill good]

I meet a woman who built her own boat when she was a man!! True & still owns that boat today.

regards

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by bill good

I meet a woman who built her own boat when she was a man!! True & still owns that boat today.

regards

OOO..strange...well after a second thought...yeah strange!!

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by anjou

As a carry on from the previous post, certain things have come to my attention this week and im partly amused and partly bemused.

In the yard here there are a few businesses and there are loads of guys in and out all day. We all get on great and many have been a great help and we have some good laughs together.

I just get on with life, doing what ive got to do and kinda take it for granted that im building a boat, sometihing which isnt a typical girly thing to be doing. So there has been a lot of interest, most is congratulatory and the rest is a little bemused.

In my more robust moments I dont realy care much what others think, but I have a softer sensitive side too. About 3 weeks ago, a guy came in the yard and made it obvious he fancied me cos he wrote his number on my arm and asked me to dinner - 'No strings attached'

So, being the inquisitive type, I called him and we went out several times over the last 2 weeks. We got talking the other night and he said he accepts and admires me, unlike some of the other guys here who simply cant work me out, and that tickles him.

So, when pressed further to explain, he said they feel highly suspicious of my knowledge and abilities, simply because 'normal' women dont do stuff like this.

Now I know British people are rather behind much of the world when it comes to gender equality, unless its war time, when there are no job rules, but in peace time, women dont do overtly masculine jobs, and if they do, aspersions are made as to their sexuality and true gender.

Of course it cuts two ways. Male nurses dont seem to raise eyebrows anymore but male nursery and infant school workers are laughed at and whilst a school janitor is usually male, a cleaner isnt. Company secretaries are male but not office secretaries. Men are chefs but never cooks, men are tailors but dont sew. Sail makers are different.

So, last Tuesday, I asked a guy to help me lift the genny into the engine room. He decided he could manage it alone and when I tried to help, he told me to get out of the way cos it was too heavy and would make my balls drop. The same guy was stood in the yard a month ago talking to another guy. We flirt a little sometimes and as I walked by, I had a cordless drill in my hand and held it against his ass and pulled the trigger. He jumped and the other guy asked if I had touched him with my cock.

Is that what that what they realy think of me. More importantly, what do YOU think?

So, is a capable woman realy a gender deviant?

You're not a gender deviant. You ARE a woman with a set of skills not typical for women.

I experience this all the time on a much smaller scale. I wrote last week about the guy who nearly knocked me into the water because he was so sure I couldn't catch a line (he was also certain the SeaTow captain couldn't position the boat he was moving to the sea wall, even though he CLEARLY was doing a VERY good job of it.)

Last weekend a group of us sailed across Tampa Bay to another marina. I'm breaking in a new engine, so I didn't sail, and the cabin is smelly from all sorts of stuff burning off the brand new engine parts. So I went by myself. That means I brought the boat into the slip.

A guy who is a guest on another boat says "Wow -- there's a woman at the wheel! WoW -- she's docking! WOW!!!!! she knew how to that!"

He was contemplating getting a boat. His conclusion? If a woman can do it, so can he.

He thought he was being complimentary.

It's not really a "man's world." It is, however, a world in which some men THINK it's a man's world.

You're lucky. Because of what you're doing, you can immediately separate the wheat from the chaff.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Eleven

Great topic. I can't understand how you got all this knowledge without understanding that men are victims of their heritage. 'Any woman Might' being the inborn basis learned from the wisdom of ages and those traumtic school and teenage years. Plus, of course, that we never ever understand why women like the spotty geek, the brainless football star, or the dustmen with the muscles and ready smile.
Non of this applies to me of course, just a comment on the mysteries of that other species.

You really can't understand that? These guys are seeing more than a woman learning to use one tool. They're seeing a range of skills that are exceptional for anyone, man or woman, along with the tenacity this job takes and the ability to make and execute a long-term, complex plan.

This is a whole lot more than knowing what to do with a skilsaw.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by David M

What is not the norm interests people of both sexes. It's a natural thing for people to notice things that are not normal. It is how they respond that matters.

Well said.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Round these parts she'd be burnt as a Witch

But we be island folk. with island ways...........

I believe your siggy and doubt that you speak for the entire island.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Me-and-Boo

"Call your boyfriend and ask him if these are the correct parts." I know they are correct and I know how to build engines. Any boyfriend of mine would not know an oil slinger from a lock washer.
I have to give a lot of credit to all the women who made it into the boy's world before us. I can't even guess what a woman like Amelia Erhart did to make it. And her co-pilot was a man. He must have been getting a lot of grief too.

The guy's want to think they are something special. Fine. Let 'em think that while we do what we want to.

Well, just a small point of order here. Amelia's crewman was a navigator, a skill she acknowledged she lacked.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Most fellas are ok with strong / smart / assertive women - it's the one's that cross over into PITA that not so keen on.

Not to say that anything wrong with a woman wanting to be a PITA - just can't expect fellas to find that an attractive trait, well not long term

It's equally unattractive in men.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by evm1024

Just do a casual search and you will find that women do not marry down as a rule. Has nothing to do with men not wanting to marry up to a strong, smart, successful women. Women set the rules on this by their actions. Men have learned....

Oh, and don't forget that Peahens do respond to Peacocks. It works!

it works for birdbrains, anyway ...

[zydecotoad]

Originally Posted by anjou

Is that what that what they realy think of me. More importantly, what do YOU think?

So, is a capable woman realy a gender deviant?

A woman capable in the boating world is not a deviant, but she is statisticly rare. This is true is most of the "outdoorsy" activities that I do. In any of them, I could find a woman who was better than me ( and most of the men ), but in the local comunity, those women were rare. So (most) men are likely to assume that any woman they see are less likely to be skilled.

BUT, they should wait and see how much skill the woman claims/exhibits to have and then work with them.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Rakuflames

I believe your siggy and doubt that you speak for the entire island.

I concede that since the arrival of Satellite TV that the popularity of Witch burnings has declined somewhat in recent years...........