The Heavy Weight Of Gender Norms

I am a skinny twenty-three-year-old girl working a manual labor job. Because of the job, I am actually very strong, able to lift about eighty pounds in front of me.

Me: “I can take your bag of dog food and blankets into the kennel with me.”

Client: “Oh, no, the food is very heavy. I can carry it for you.”

Me: “Sir, it’s only forty pounds. I can get it. Besides, I need to take it into an Employees Only area.”

Client: “Oh. Maybe we should wait until one of the male employees is ready. I’m sure he’ll be able to get it.”

Me: “We don’t currently have any male employees. Besides, I lift much heavier things every day.”

Client: “That’s discrimination! You can’t have an all-female staff!”

Me: “It’s not that my boss doesn’t hire males; it’s that we currently only have women working here. We had a guy who quit last month.”

Client: “Oh… Well, let me carry the food.”

Ignoring him, I lift the bag of dog food in a fireman’s carry and run with it the hundred yards across the play yard into the kennel. When I come back to the office, I ask the client:

Me: “So. Do you want your dog bathed before she is returned?”

Client: “That would be great. Wow. That was really impressive. You’re way stronger than you look!”

Me: “Thanks! Have a nice day!”

Since then, he has been very pleasant and has returned to the kennel several times.