By Michelle Findlay, a recruiter from the UK.
As I enter the cavernous hall, a familiar smell fills the air. Fear fills my heart as I scan the room. Most of the people here are much taller, physically stronger and more barbaric than me. I am the only one of my species here. I am well and truly on some-one else's turf.
I can even hear them babbling away in another language. Without so much as a flinch, I calmly compose myself and prepare to stand alone and defiantly fight my corner. As I go in deeper the strange creatures surround me and stare, unashamedly. I look around for any vestiges of my own species here. There are some, but quickly I realize that they are prisoners held against their will.
No, I have not landed on an alien planet. I am a female telecoms business owner at a giant telecoms exhibition. The creatures around me are men. Wall to wall. The smell filling the air is testosterone. The only other women here are dolly girls, silent honey pots to draw men to stands by wearing outfits their Dad wouldn't approve of.
As I prepare for battle I know in my heart the cut of my power suit will never hide my curves, my blond hair makes me a walking target, my girly facial features are a burden to carry. For the first time ever, I am a man trapped in a woman's body!
I cringe inside as I observe the male creatures firmly shaking one another's hands. They slap each other's backs, in congratulation. Their deep voices bellow as they celebrate the fact that for two days only, they are actually allowed to be geeky, and be adored by fellow geeks. Strangely, they compete in virtual crazy golf tournaments. Bizarrely, they adopt alpha male poses as they plan the night's drunken exploits.
This is what it feels like to stand alone as a woman in a totally male dominated industry.
So, why is telecoms still mostly men? It seems such a dichotomy, one of the most forward-thinking industries on the planet has such an atypical, antiquated imbalance of the sexes?
Is it the culture, is telecoms backwards, or prejudicial? In my opinion, no. Basically, telecoms is highly technical and engineering and this is generally the realm of men. Programmers, engineers and designers are mostly men. Some bright spark will tell you it’s because we are wired differently or blabber on about frontal lobes etc. The truth is men seem to love it, while women get so bored we would rather stick needles in our eyes.
And, telecoms men can at times be a bunch of bitchy little girls. I can't tell you the amount of times I have had placements blow out at the golden handshake stage because "I don't like him" or "I couldn't work with him" Unreal!
So am I disadvantaged at a telecoms show by being one of very few women? Not at all. These men are outrageously technical. I nod pleasantly as they bamboozle me with a bewildering array of acronyms. I smile sweetly as they speak to me in ancient Swahili. I echo their visual cues as they evangelise this technical underworld that is to me, duller than the History Channel.
Of course, men will speak to me simply because I am female. I never resort to flaunting my feminine wiles, my eyelids never flutter in duplicity. Inevitable attempts to pick me up are brushed off with a distant, professional stare and polite change of subject. To me it's all about the confidence. If I compete with the assumptive arrogance of a man, I stand a chance. If I charismatically give out the impression that I deserve respect even though I don't have the... ahem... anatomy, I might just succeed in their playground.
I could never say that being female was part of the business plan, or if it works out better or worse for me. All I know is that I always skip out of a telecoms show with a sneaky smile having won double the leads of my male counterparts. In this battleground I always fight fairly, but secretly, winning the battle of the sexes always tastes so sweet. Some call it exploitation, I call it sound business sense.
Michelle is owner of Synergyze Telecoms Group. They offer B2B services to Telecoms startups. She also does web design and is an active member and fan of the Joomla project.
(Editor's note: I'm interested in your comments on Michelle's article. I think it's an interesting restatement of what we've been talking about in the open source communities this summer. There's been much talk about treated equally, but Michelle makes no bones about using the differences to her advantage. Is this good, bad or just part of life?)
Ah, this brings back memories of the days. From a consumer marketing background, I had no idea what to expect when I first joined telecom 8 y ago. Initially as e-business consultant than as quality manager, I can safely say that one has to show confidence without losing touch of her female attributes, which, if used right, can benefit everyone in the team, i.e. double testing the easy-to-use features of a product, making sure the target's needs are met. Technology is great, making it easy-to-dig is better, obtaining consensus around the table, expressing things in simple terms is a sign of professionalism etc.
There's a downside however and at the risk of having the entire male engineer community on my back, what I'm about to say should not be generalized. After having held many many meetings and interacted with different management levels, the "antiquated imbalance of the sexes" as you say, leads to antiquated management techniques straight out the 70's with the "I'm the boss attitude".
Participative mode, the "good job" with a tap on the back are rare. It's a man's world where (internal) competition is a strong arm and who gets the biggest part of the pie. Moreover, this may even disrupt timely product launch or innovative cycles, not to mention the morale. Again, these facts come from my experience.
Still got a long road ahead of us but hey, we've seen progress. Today, clients thank us when they successfully self-customize their cell in no time.
I enjoyed reading your post, you describe it exactly as it is. Thanks Fed