POWER PLAY

Let’s begin by posing a question: Of the four professions in the poll, which one is least likely occupied by a woman? As you ponder the answer, reflect on the following passage from our successful woman’s first memory.

“When you pass by the nurse’s station, grin real big,” and he demonstrated by grinning real big for me. He said, “You can show them that you’re not going to be stopped.” He was so tall and I was so short, and they weren’t going to stop us.

Women’s Work, Men’s Work: Sex Segregation on the Job (published way back in the late 80’s!) is a frequently cited book in which the authors argue that society, the economy, and individuals all lose when workers are allocated to jobs on the basis of gender, race, or age, rather than on their ability to perform the work. Occupational segregation restricts individuals’ chances for self-fulfillment. Thus, when jobs are classified as men’s work or women’s work, neither men nor women are able to do the jobs that might suit them best.

Once you read the summary of the successful woman’s earliest memories, perhaps you will agree that she is, in fact, working in an occupation that suits her …even though she has chosen an occupation atypical for women.

For anyone who knows much about a chemical plant, he or she is aware that getting past the guard gate requires nearly an act of congress! Because of the potential for personal injury, sabotage, or even the probability of getting lost, gaining access to a chemical plant is a true rigamarow, and especially since 911. Even after passing a background check and a brief safety test, each outsider has to sign in, make known the nature of his or her business, wear a badge and protective gear, and leave in a timely manner. One thing is certain: No unauthorized person just drops by a chemical plant and walks right in.

And no woman just drops by a chemical plant, hoping to be hired as a chemical plant operator either. For years, the position of plant operator was considered a man’s job. Even today, some men can be heard grumbling about women taking “men’s jobs” at the plants. The suggestion, among others, used to be that because these jobs pay well, shouldn’t men be hired before women? Some also said, “If women are operators, who will turn the large valves and make the tough decisions in a crisis?” In the case of our successful woman, she had to show “them” she wasn’t going to be stopped.

Starting as a laborer in 1976 and working up to a truck loader the next year, our successful woman ultimately worked one year each in the various operator positions, until, in 1985, she became the A operator, or as it is called – the top operator. To say that this totally feminine, hearts and flowers female was ahead of her time is a completely authentic statement. In fact, let’s remember the world in 1976, when she hired on as a laborer.

Jimmy Carter was elected President of the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty is not inherently cruel or unusual and is a constitutionally acceptable form of punishment. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest won Best Picture. Love Will Keep Us Together won Best Record, and Still Crazy After All These Years won Best Album. Our nation celebrated the Bicentennial, a first-class stamp cost $0.13, and gas was about $0.67 a gallon! Yes, the social climate was definitely naïve in 1976.

In fact, only 56 years prior, President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to pass what became the Nineteenth Amendment, providing that neither any individual state, nor the federal government, may deny a citizen the right to vote because of that person’s sex. Think about it this way: If you are a seasoned baby boomer reading this post, it is entirely possible that your grandmother was prohibited from voting for president – at least when she was first of voting age!

Thus, we might say, women have come a long way, and although there still are fewer women than men working in top positions in the control room of a chemical plant, some women are in those top positions, including our successful woman….now in her 32nd year as a chemical plant employee, 23 of those years as a top operator.

In reflecting on the entire first memory, are you also able to see that she is comfortable with power and with taking direction from a powerful person…in this case the doctor, a tall man, who showed her how to pass the nurse’s station with ease? She goes with him, takes his hand, pays attention to his direction, and is thereby rewarded with being able to see her mother.

In fact, as a consequence of paying careful attention to the tall doctor, she would have learned also how to return again to her mother’s bedside, when the doctor was not with her. By paying attention, she would later be able to mimic his actions and walk right past the nurses’ station into her mother’s room, just as though she had clearance – just as though “a company official had authorized her access to the mother’s room.”

She thus recalls the doctor teaching her about attitude and how to carry herself (with a smile like you’re not going to be stopped). Respect the power, but know how to flourish in the midst of it….a lesson she learned well and kept with her all these years...a lesson that has enabled her to thrive in an occupational world inhabited by men. Yes, it is so clear that her worldview is “I’m powerful via others.” Perhaps we might argue that when women appreciate men and become powerful with them, rather than against them, everyone is more likely to succeed, just as she has succeeded.

In the second memory, we are again witness to her empowerment via others. She listens to the adults’ instructions and keeps in her mind the signs to pay attention to, thus assuring that the birthday girl will not be ignored should she become overheated or overexcited, as evidenced by turning blue.

This, in fact, is the job of a plant operator: He or she must monitor the activity of the chemical process in action, and by looking often to a computer screen for signs and symptoms of anything getting out of balance or becoming overheated or over-stimulated; the operator can quickly orchestrate adjustments.

Failing to notice the young girl turning blue could have resulted in a family tragedy, just as failing to notice a chemical plant process getting out of balance could lead to a community tragedy. Thus we see that in the memory with the birthday girl, there is something higher going on than having a good time; just as in the memory of the mother in the hospital, there is something higher going on than making a visit.

Interestingly, both memories also involve illness and the owner’s relationship to illness. In both, our successful woman is neither a nurse nor a caretaker, so much as she is empowered by others to visit, to play with, and to align with the adults in managing someone else’s potential problem. This also sounds similar to her occupation, wherein she uses her skills of attentiveness to avert potential problems so that others are productive, and more importantly, so that others remain safe in the process of being productive.

As you might imagine, there is so much more in these two short memories than time allows for discussion, but it is true that our successful woman wasn’t going to be stopped (because she is powerful via others)! And good for her! When she soon retires from the chemical plant, I daresay she will again show everyone that she’s not going to be stopped in moving forward. What might she tackle next? (Indeed, her earliest memories give us some clues....do you see them?)