Women are technical too, honor yourself

If you’re female, there’s no need to compare yourself to men or to other women. So, you may observe others earning more pay than you or in the spot-light. Perhaps most of the people in governments and positions of high authority are male, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be too or that you are of lesser value than them. Maybe you see an abundance of names of men as writers under the topics of “Productivity” or “Start-ups”, or similar topics everywhere on the internet. This just reflects the pathways available and the choices made by many, but does not mean that women are not as technically capable as men.

More women achievers are being revealed to our community at large.

Think about the movie “Hidden Figures” about Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson who were the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn. There are numerous other female figures who have made huge contributions to humanity, but are little known by some. Did you know:

• Marie Skłodowska Curie was a Polish and naturalized-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, the first person and only woman to win twice.
• The earliest known version of Monopoly, known as The Landlord’s Game, was designed by an American woman, Elizabeth Magie. Magie, a follower of Henry George, originally intended The Landlord’s Game to illustrate the economic consequences of Ricardo’s Law of Economic rent and the Georgist concepts of economic privilege and land value taxation.
• Dr Gladys West invented GPS — the Global Positioning System.

• Selma Hortense Burke was an American sculptor and a member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke is best known for a bas relief portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which inspired the profile found on the obverse of the dime.
• When I was at Secondary School in Australia in the 1970s my sister wanted to do technical drawing, but she was told there was a limited number of students for the class, and they only wanted boys, so she had to leave the class.
• During the late 1980s, as a trained Biologist, I applied for hundreds of relevant jobs. For one of them I received a rejection letter around 6 months later stating “We do not think that you are physically able to do the job.” Well, this really was “news” to me! They had never set eyes upon me and unless the prospective employer had a crystal ball they did not know whether I had the build of Arnold Schwarzenegger or not. Were all those interviewed men?

I am sure that other cases of discrimination of this type abound, and that many men who have made significant contributions to “inventions” are unknown; but the point of this is not to point fingers at anyone or to feel hard done by, but is to stipulate that as many women as men are flexible, strong, intelligent, organized, multi-taskers (or adept task switchers), learned or educated, go-getters, motivated, hard-working and achievers; as well as mentors, teachers, innovators, and motivators or inspirational figures.

I used to have to survive challenging personal conditions by being tough or blocking out some of my emotions and feelings, and being very well organized and planned, and gathering information or data, to progress. I thought that being “tough” was a male attribute. When I was 19 years old I felt that I had to wear a blonde wig, to fit into the Australian community, because I looked Asian (being born Chinese) and in the late 1970s the Chinese people were the scapegoats and I was constantly mocked. Many intolerant and ignorant people tried to make me feel worthless and succeeded partly in doing so.

Then I started wishing that I was male! My mind, always creative and my Soul always wanting to move forward positively, but sometimes getting swept up by a confused Ego, latched onto the thought that if I was male then I could look and be cool, I could call people “Mate” and maybe get into a technical or other job easily. This may seem strange to some people, but if you look at my background and the fact that I observed males getting ahead and getting noticed, it is not so unusual. But my mind-set was born from faulty thinking and from social mores.

One day I woke up and realized that of course I can call others “mate” if I want to and can saunter around confidently like the typical successful or confident male figure that I held in my mind’s eye. I am trained in Biology and Social Research and programme evaluation, and I love reading, writing, learning and helping others.

I have written poetry, short stories, and an unpublished novel, and am currently finishing a children’s novel. I have written numerous technical aids or instructions for use in my workplaces and on how to set up and run a free WordPress blog. My many interests and love of life have resulted in my currently running 8 blogs on WordPress and since November 2018 I have been writing on Medium.

Since 2008 I have worked in records management and contributed to preserving and managing the public record for several employers. I have also done a lot of voluntary welfare work, pioneering some things such as a Youth group for Community Aid Abroad and a filing system for their resources.

I have a dream of completing a CELTA course (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of other languages) and running my own E.L.F.S. classes.

ELFS is my acronym for English Language For Support, and I aim to hold free small community classes for adults, to reinforce their English skills; and to provide a free shuttle service or bus to pick up and return students.

No I am not pontificating all this, in a desperate bid to be acknowledged or to make myself feel good.

My purpose is to show that I am a human being whom loves life, grows spiritually, and as a female, has made as much positive impact upon human life as anyone has. This is not comparing myself to others but intrinsic knowledge.

If you are female or know someone who is and who doubts herself, take a half an hour or an hour or a day to focus on yourself and to think about your actions and the ways in which you have made a difference, or ask your friend to do so. Don’t compare your “achievements” or your presence to anyone, and if you want to be a technical drawer or a technical writer, go for it.

Thanks for reading.