When the plumber is a cis-gendered male
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Have we reached peak absurdity yet? Apparently, not:
Male Workers Allowed Into Baldwin, Unsettling Residents
On Oct. 7, residents of Baldwin Cottage received an email from Josh Matos, the area coordinator for Multicultural and Identity-Based Communities.
“I am reaching out to you to give you an update on the radiator project,” Matos wrote. “Starting tomorrow (Friday, 10/8) the contractors will be entering rooms between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. to install the radiators. This will mean that they will be in your room for a period of time to complete the work.”
I had not been contacted about any sort of radiator installation before this email, so right away the word “update” stood out to me as untrue. I grew concerned reading the second line, which informed me that I had less than 24 hours to prepare for the arrival of the installation crew, and I was further perturbed by the ambiguous “for a period of time.”
In general, I am very averse to people entering my personal space. This anxiety was compounded by the fact that the crew would be strangers, and they were more than likely to be cisgender men.
Baldwin Cottage is the home of the Women and Trans Collective. The College website describes the dorm as “a close-knit community that provides women and transgendered persons with a safe space for discussion, communal living, and personal development.” Cisgender men are not allowed to live on the second and third floors, and many residents choose not to invite cisgender men to that space.I was angry, scared, and confused. Why didn’t the College complete the installation over the summer, when the building was empty? Why couldn’t they tell us precisely when the workers would be there? Why were they only notifying us the day before the installation was due to begin?
I considered reaching out to Matos, but what would I say? The College was unlikely to address any of my concerns the day before the scheduled installation, and if they did, it would more than likely be in a passive we-are-truly-sorry-for-the-inconvenience sort of way, punctuated by an insistence that I would not be excessively bothered and that the installation was necessary, whether I liked it or not.
The next day, I waited apprehensively. The workers began installing in common spaces, and I could see immediately that they were all men. It was clear that the College had not made a special request that male workers not be allowed onto the upper floors of Baldwin. Predicting when they would reach my room was pure guesswork. I was trying to anticipate whether I would be in class when they arrived, or if I’d have to welcome strangers into my room only to be ejected to allow them space to work.
Just amazing.
Wait four years when you leave your cocoon and get into the "real world" where this bullshit is not only irrelevant, but silly.
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Maybe they will boycott plumbing entirely until the United Association of Plumber and Pipefitters put in place mission statement and policies to increase the number of non-cis-gender-male practitioners amongst their rank?
Srsly, anyone knows a female professional plumber? I have hired many professional plumbers over the years, but I have never seen a female professional plumbers. Ditto electricians.
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@axtremus said in When the plumber is a cis-gendered male:
Srsly, anyone knows a female professional plumber? I have hired many professional plumbers over the years, but I have never seen a female professional plumbers. Ditto electricians.
You're an idiot. Fewer women want those jobs. It's the same reason why there are so few male Kindergarten teachers.
Please love yourself.
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@aqua-letifer said in When the plumber is a cis-gendered male:
@axtremus said in When the plumber is a cis-gendered male:
Fewer women want those jobs. It's the same reason why there are so few male Kindergarten teachers.
That's it! Boycott all kindergartens until the kindergarten teachers union adopts mission statement and policies to increase the number of male kindergarten teachers.
