‘Why Women Plumbers?’ Hattie Hasan, Stopcocks Women Plumbers’ Founder answers their most frequently asked question.
We’re asked ‘Why just women plumbers?’ constantly by the media (and we have our special response to them here) But we also get this same question from our male counterparts.
What does it feel like to be totally outnumbered?
The short answer is “Why not?” but since that doesn’t seem to answer the question fully enough here is a more thorough response.
Most commonly plumbers say “Why not all be together, I’ll work with anyone?”.
Why not all be together?
Oh how we wish it was that simple.
Let’s try this. How about we (or better still you) turn things around to get a clearer perspective on the situation as a whole.
Perhaps you can put yourselves in the position of being 1 in 300 or even 100
or being told regularly that you’re not up to the task
or being patronised at the merchant (sometimes ignored)
or knowing you have to be twice as good to get the same recognition
or being told that you will only qualify if you consent to being fondled
This needs to be called out and not tolerated by anyone
Well… you did ask. And since you asked, you should know that we take a very balanced view of this and don’t for one minute say this is every man or even that it is most men, just that it is some men and that it needs to be called out and not tolerated by anyone.
Far from complaining we just put our heads down and get on with it – we really don’t have time to pick up on every instance even if we wanted to.
This is a very different experience from what men in non-traditional roles receive from the women in their industry. No male hairdresser got hate mail from women hairdressers; ever!
On the contrary; they are adored by women hairdressers, customers and media (if you happen to know any famous hairdressers, they are probably male).
We really need that support from the whole industry
Hopefully this has helped you to understand why it’s so important to have a company where women plumbers can thrive and why we need to have an event where we can gain support from each other.
We really need that support from the whole industry no matter what our private parts look like.
If you are or know a female plumber or gas engineer point them in the direction of our free event here. Or to join us here.
