Why do feminists never refer to menial jobs like garbage collection as "male-dominated"?

Question

Is "male-domination" ok if the work is dirty, unpleasant or dangerous?

Judging by some of your responses, I'm getting that "male-domination" of an industry is ok as long as women don't care to do that kind of work. Hmmm.....so it's ok for men to have to do a disproportiate share of the least desirable work? That doesn't sound very much like equality to me...

rain: "If a man doesn't want to do dirty unpleasant work then he doesn't have to. The fact is he chooses to do it. Very simple concept here." Oh really? So all these garbage collectors do it because they enjoy it? LOL Alright, from now on I assume you will never deny that poor women choose to work in the low-paying jobs they are in, and that low-paying jobs for women are no longer a feminist issue...

dying inside: The fact that you have seen women work as garbage collectors does not deny that it is male-dominated. Male-domination signifies there being far more males in the industry than females. Having a token few female garbage collectors does not mitigate the fact that males shoulder an inordinate proportion of the garbage collection task. How about some equality here? Females clamoring for the plum jobs and leaving the scut work to men is hardly gender equality in the workplace...

Answer 1

Feminists care about giving women advantages, not equality. I'm surprised you haven't been called a misogynist yet for daring to bring up a double standard against men.

Answer 2

I never said that an occupation can not be male or female dominated but if a women wants to work in garbage collection and is able but is turned away because she is a women that would be discrimination. Just for the record not all dirty and unpleasant jobs are male dominated, have you ever spent the day at a child-care center or nursing home? It is mostly women and they have to clean some very unpleasant messes and keep the area clean enough for state inspection and are paid menial wages (although many have 2 or 4 year degrees).

Edit: If what you got from reading the responses to your question is "it's ok for men to have to do a disproportiate share of the least desirable work?" then I think you need to read them a little more closely. A job that is less desirable does not mean it is male - dominated.

Answer 3

I think most of the 'male priveleges' boils down to religion. in many major religions, women are often degraded: i.e Eve in the Bible as being 'God's only flaw' and the constant misinterpretation of the Koran. Because of this, some die-hard religious men treat women like **** and say that they're doing 'God's will' and all of that crap. I don't have a problem with religion, even though I'm not very religious myself, but when it gets as crazy as this then it's just ridiculous. There are other people who simply believe that men are better than women, for no apparent reason, and therefore invent all sorts of laws so that men are treated better. Obviously, those laws are slowly disappearing, but some of the attitudes are still there. I guess the answer to your question is that men have created all these laws for men to be treated better - that's what we're really complaining about. There are also men who seem completely ignorant to the needs of a woman - like how childbirth actually does *hurt*, how it's not our fault that we miscarry sometimes, postnatal depression and all of that other 'women's business' that they disregard as 'unimportant' Hope that helps.

Answer 4

I don't think garbage collection is a menial job. As far as male-dominated, I've seen women work as garbage men (sorry feminists, I really can't think of a politically correct way of putting it right now), part of a construction crew, truck drivers, and many other jobs that at one point were deamed to be male-dominated careers. In today's society people want to do something they do their best to do it. At one time men were only barbers now you can find male hair stylists (and please no one rebut this one negatively), teachers were once predominantly single women now men do it, and the list could go on.

Answer 5

Not quite true, they are garbage collectors now, not garbagemen as they used to be.
And if dirty and unpleasant counts as mans work then why do women change so many poopy diapers? And for danger, you can't beat hooking, the murder rate of hookers, (that's dirty and unpleasant too, right?) is huge next to the murder rate of garbage collectors.
Where upper body strength is of importance, the majority of jobs will be held by men, some women will certainly qualify, but it will be mostly men, if the day ever comes that machinery lifts the garbage into the truck,( and they already do that here). It will change the way we think of garbage collectors.
You might remember that when typewriters first came out they were considered to be to complicated for women, typist was a mans job. When they found out how boring typing for hours on end was, it was conveniently decided that it was fit for women.
Things change.

Answer 6

I am a Male Nurse and I can assure You that when it comes to bed pans, bed baths, bowel care, blood, vomit sputum, bile or fecal matter no menial task is dominated by either gender. We are all doing it together, for each other, and for everyone else! We are all equal. Pity the rest of the work force can not stop the bickering and get on with the job at hand. You might actually achieve something constructive.

Answer 7

"Hmmm.....so it's ok for men to have to do a disproportiate share of the least desirable work? That doesn't sound very much like equality to me..."

If a man doesn't want to do dirty unpleasant work then he doesn't have to. The fact is he chooses to do it. Very simple concept here.
Now, what's your gripe? Oh that's right, you don't really have one...it's just another irrelevant rant against women. No change there then.

EDIT:
"Oh really? So all these garbage collectors do it because they enjoy it?"

Whether they enjoy it or not is irrelevant. They do it because they choose to do it. Simple.

"Alright, from now on I assume you will never deny that poor women choose to work in the low-paying jobs they are in"

Yes, poor women choose to work in low-paying jobs.

"and that low-paying jobs for women are no longer a feminist issue..."

Um, what?

Answer 8

EDITED to respond to your ridiculous assertion that men do a disproportionate amount of the grunt jobs: Who are the majority of the maids and house cleaners who scrub other people's toilets? Who are the majority of secretaries/admins who have to empty the shred bins, do the office dishes, and fetch coffee and lunch for the boss? Please.

There are unpleasant jobs on each side. Men's just happen to be more physical (garbage collection, clean-up, less desirable construction/handyman jobs) while women's are service-oriented (receptionist/admin, customer service, waitress). This separation is obviously because (lacking a higher education) men- being stronger physically- are more suited to those kind of jobs. Women- who tend to have better interpersonal skills- are more suited to jobs that require a lot of interaction with customers/clients. I don't see many men demanding their right to be a receptionist either. Why? Because it sucks!

The great equalizer, as you go up the ladder, is education. The higher the job the more important education and skills become- and the less sexual differences matter. Top jobs (that people actually desire) like being a lawyer, doctor, CPA, manager, etc. are no better suited to men or women. Give it another generation and I think men and women will be fairly equally represented in these professions.

Answer 9

If women are being denied a chance to make twenty dollars and hour collecting garbage then yes this is discriminatory. I would be more concerned with jobs that have to do with equal amount of skill, education and experience. I don't see anti feminists like yourself whining about unpleasant jobs like nursing assistants who clean up bodily waste and fluids being a field with a proportionately large amount of females.
You argument is similar to grasping at straws.

Answer 10

Good point. Inflammatory, but good question.

I think that probably most women who are willing to fight for feminism are more driven to do something that would be considered "above" service jobs. Who wants to fight over a job that most highly educated, driven people would rather not do. If you're going to fight for something, I'm sure that you would rather that it was something meaningful, that advanced you or your group as a whole.

Answer 11

It falls under the umbrella of "manual labor" or "blue collar," which is definitely male-dominated and an excellent option for those without post-secondary education, men and women alike.