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sunshine jen: Girls Not Like Me
Let me begin by telling you a fact. I'm not a girl. I passed the age of consent decades ago. My body type puts me at the woman end of the female experience.
While I don't mind it when a partner says that's my girl! or a friend says you go girl!, I do object to the use of the word girl in an office environment. When I work an admin job, I am an office worker, not an office girl.
Recently, I quit an office job (not a shocker and all is well). My main reason for quitting was simple: money. However, one moment pre-quitting made me pause.
The woman, who had brought me aboard, referred to my female co-workers and myself as office girls. Now, if you've read this blog a lot, you know I'm pretty mellow. I'm in California for Christ sake. I can control my temper, but girls????? Seriously???? What the. . .
Taking a step back, I am going to tell you, gentle reader, why that's offensive.
By referring to someone as a girl in a professional context, you are essentially calling that person a child or non-adult. A child needs more discipline and supervision than an adult. A child is not doing real work because a child plays. Play work is not serious work, and the child should not be paid well for it.
When I called the woman on the office girls comment, she told me not to be so sensitive. Oh don't be sensitive! She said. I came back with: don't tell me what I am.
Looking back, I'm going to make one little correction. Heck yeah, I'm sensitive. In that office environment, I was sensitive to folks around me and their administrative needs. Why should we not be sensitive? Why should we not be kind? What kind of environment and what kind of people do you want around you?
I did good work in that office. I tried to create an environment where people were treated respectfully and even kindly. Now I'm moving on.
And let me be clear:
I'm not a good girl.
I'm not a bad girl.
I'm not a girl at all.
I'm Sunshine Jen. . .from Los Angeles.
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