L3752L
September 7, 2011, 7:28pm
45
<p>
wdaveo:
Could it be the opposite of racism? I’ll explain what I mean by way of example.</p>
<p>I am/was and intelligent female back in the day…good at math and science. Since I was female, I think I may have garnered extra attention along the way…but I can’t be sure if it was because I was female or not.</p>
<p>Like you, I am/was very book smart, great grades…but I don’t seem to do quite so well out in the real world. I was top in my class in high school and in college (chemical engineering) plus I was female…“WOW, Chem Engineering…WOW…You’re really special AND you’re a woman!”</p>
<p>Then I went out to the real world. No one cared that I was a Chem Eng major because so was everyone else. In fact, I was just a measly BS when everyone else was an MS or PHD. They didn’t care that I was female. It didn’t make things easier…it made things harder because I had to work twice as hard to show people I was equally as good.</p>
<p>I was so used to being ‘special’, my self-esteem took a huge hit when I was no longer anything special. Honestly, I still haven’t recovered. I’m still not that confident, intelligent woman that I used to be. That was 25 years ago. I still work on it everyday through personal development.</p>
<p>I don’t know if I explained that well, but maybe you are experiencing something similar. I think in the real world it doesn’t matter anymore what color you are or gender or social class you are from…you just need to get the job done.
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<p>Yes, I think I experienced something similar. You got the “WOW, Chem Engineering…WOW…You’re really special AND you’re a woman!” I got something similar except that instead of “a woman” they said “hispanic”.</p>