Awww, I get that, you have to shush your creativity just to give the customer what they want, even though that means ruining your work. One of the reasons I hated graphic design. That's really sad, I'm sure you'd do so much better if you could just do what feels right to you. Can't you write your own book on the side? Do their silly multimedia stuff the way they want, and then do what your heart tells you whenever you get the chance. Would show them right if you could get it published. You could see this job as a first step on the ladder, right?
Yep. I work in a place that's 'traditionally' a male workplace, so some stuff is kinda new to them. They try to be multicultural, LGBTQ+ friendly and genderneutral, they really do, it's overall a pretty modern company. But it's still obviously run by men, as seen by the amount of toilets
Although I have to deal with a lot of sexist comments and assumptions, most of them aren't really intentional so I try to ignore it, but I can't always. Not all by colleagues either, a lot of it comes from customers. It basically ranges from "Oh look now Betty, doesn't that look sweet, those tiny hands on that big steering wheel?" and "A woman? Now there's something you don't see every day" (and then get all pissy when your answer is "Really, sir? It's about 50% of the population, you might wanna take a look around") from customers to "Oh you have to reverse for that, let me get that for you, doll" from colleagues, (who then look baffled when you suggest that they let you do it yourself, but they can stand and give directions from right behind the bus, if they like). Yeah, The Netherlands is supposed to be such a tolerant country, but we still have a lot to learn when it comes to women with traditionally male jobs
Doesn't help that I look like a teenager either. A bit back a woman got in and exclaimed "Oh dear, you can't have been doing this job for long, you're so young!". She didn't look convinced when I told her I have been doing this for over 5 years. Whereas, naturally, when I told a male passenger the same last week, he went "That long? In that case you may even drive better than a man!". Oh, the books I could write about the idiotic things people say. I mean, what, a woman is by definition a worse driver than a man unless she had 5 years experience on large vehicles just to prove herself worthy? Get out.
But back to the me not knowing what I'm experiencing: I never really thought that was a sexist thing, just them suggesting that I should do a hostess-like job instead of driving large vehicles. But now that you mention it, a male colleague is going through the same right now and he can take all the time he needs. I thought it was a personal issue that they didn't take me, and me specifically, seriously, because that's been happening all my life. Makes me wonder now. Although part of me doesn't really believe that they would intentionally treat women different in this matter. They're primates, but they really are putting an effort into equality. So it wouldn't be on purpose. And they never asked me if I was on my period either