I wrote this my last year of college... just recently ran across it in some old files and thought I'd share...
Not Just for Tomboys:
Being "The Girl” In A Male-Dominated Job Field
For most women, applying for position in a male-dominated job field would be intimidating. It might not even be something most women would consider due to physical limitations. I am not like most women.
My small family was headed by the only male authority figure in my life, my father the Anaheim police sergeant. I wasn’t very “girly” when I was little, but when I got older and my father desperately wanted me to be athletic, I wasn’t into that either. When you’re the child of a police officer, most people expect you to rebel. Again, I broke the stereotype and continued being the straight-A student, always in by curfew and following the rules of my extremely overprotective father. After high school when I began to think about college and career choices, the only thing my father asked of me is that I not go into law enforcement. When I moved to Las Vegas, I promptly applied for a security position.
Back in California, I had worked for the Disneyland Resort and was always interested in becoming part of their security team. At 19 I wasn’t old enough, as they required their officers to be 21. I had never been to Las Vegas until my 21st birthday, but moved here about six months later for school. I began at Bellagio as a payroll clerk to get my foot in the door.
As luck would have it, I was responsible for Security’s payroll. Whenever a member of their management team was in my office, I would inquire about becoming an officer. My expectations were that they would look for big, strong men with a police or military background. To my surprise, I was told that their biggest requirement was a background in customer service. This information prompted me to apply.
Even after I decided to apply, it was hard for me to believe that I would be taken seriously. At 5’5”, 115 lbs, why would I be an asset to security simply because I had an extensive customer service background? My interview continued to try and change my mind, focusing on problem solving customer service situations. The manager even mentioned that those with police and military backgrounds are sometimes not good candidates as they are harder to train.
I was hired once my background check was completed. I was one of two females in my training class, and we both did better in our classroom training than the males. Once we got to our self-defense training, however, it was a different story. It was pretty rigorous and since there were more males than females, we had to practice some of our moves co-ed. The next day when I couldn’t lift my arms, I wondered what I was getting myself into.
At the time I was hired I was not only the youngest female, but also the youngest employee. The male officers had a sense of humor much like my father. Anything was fair game; most people in our department were not sensitive. The jokes were loud and bawdy, and the nights out were raucous. Most were part-time Air Force, some ex-military; some retired from other various professions. They were all very nice but also curious as to what brought me into the department.
I found that, being a female officer I was an asset to the department. Any mishaps with female guests required a female officer’s presence, and I was also called upon many times for my report writing skills. There were male report writers, of course, but it was common knowledge that females excelled in that part of our job.
Soon, I was promoted to a job in the control room. There, I learned a completely different side to my job where gender really did not matter. The control room was all about level-headedness and keeping cool during a crisis, and each member of our team, male and female, displayed these qualities well enough to be part of the room that controlled the security team.
After my year in Security, I spent another year at Bellagio in a different department. I went from jacket, tie and pants to a skirt, blouse, and nylons. From just the uniform change I was treated differently. Suddenly I was a “regular girl” again, and my co-workers in that department were more socially segregated. We were all doing the same job, but this time people watched what they said around me, and I felt I had to do the same. I was much more aware of the large differences in my co-workers, whereas in security, once we were in that red coat we were one big family.
My latest foray into a male-dominated work environment took place when I was approached by a certain department store to take part in opening their new store in Las Vegas. I had worked for the company in California as a salesperson, but wasn’t interested in returning to that position. With my security background I felt that I might have a chance as a Loss Prevention Agent, and decided to apply.
My first interview was interesting. The LP Manager was an extremely quiet, reserved, person. I, however, am not. I was sure that I had overwhelmed him, and, if the other agents were like him, that I would never be hired. Oddly enough, I was. Again, I was the youngest employee in the department and this time, the only female. In the beginning I was handed off to the female Regional Manager, and she gave me “office work” like setting up one of our satellite offices in the store, while the male agents were monitoring employees at entrances and manning the camera room. This continued right up until the store’s grand opening gala & fashion show, when, as the only female agent, I was left guarding the tent holding the models and the wardrobe.
Once the store opened things were only slightly more even, and then only because we were extremely understaffed. Somehow I ended up in the satellite office more than any of the guys, my manager claiming that I was more organized. Even when I began catching shoplifters, the male agents would get most of the glory because they were the ones tackling them. Obviously, I was not about to tackle men who weigh three times as much as I do. But when there was a female in the detention room, the male agents needed my help. I was the only one who could pat search them. I was the only one who could recover merchandise from off of their person, and most of the time, I was the only one to whom the females would confess.
Eventually, the differences in priority between my manager and myself resulted in my leaving the position of my own accord. Upon resigning from that position, I made it clear to my store manager that Loss Prevention was being conducted like a “boy’s club”, and that if it continued, the morale in that department would suffer.
Even after this incident, I would continue to work in male-dominated fields. My personality is such that I enjoy breaking stereotypes and seeing people’s reactions to me when I am doing these jobs. Gone are the days when women in “men’s professions” are labeled as “butch” or “tomboys”, or even less than feminine. With a few exceptions and the right company, gender shouldn’t have to play a role in choosing a career.
...and my neighbor's cars...
