The Struggles of Being a Woman in a Male-Dominated Industry by Edmary Rodriguez Rivera

To those who are strangers to the topic, it is easy to assume that most women struggle to make a name for themselves in an industry where males are the majority. Most people, despite their gender, can relate to this train of thought, especially those who have worked under circumstances where they are the minority sex. The struggles of working in traditionally male-dominated fields are widely known. Many articles published on this topic focus on how women’s mental health is put at risk when they are exposed to this kind of work scenario, which I cannot entirely agree with, as both men and women can struggle with mental health issues.  As a woman in a male-dominated industry, the military, I recognize that even now, many men see women as delicate, motherly figures and, in the worst-case scenarios, as nothing more than someone to engage with sexually. 

When I first joined the U.S. Army, everyone welcomed me with open arms. In my eyes, this was thanks to the implementation of programs created to assure service members’ safety, comfort, and equal treatment. As with everything in life, not everyone I have met in service implemented these programs or entertained the idea of having females in male-dominated jobs.

At times, I was sexualized and made uncomfortable by those around me, some of them not meaning to and some fully aware. An example of this would be how I was compared to my coworker’s mother when expressing my concerns about his health or being warned by one of my superiors of how much of a danger he could be to me if he ever saw me while he was drunk. These comments and many others did not make me feel demoralized or inferior; they did not take a toll on my mental health. I took these comments as things people needed to be educated on rather than shut down for. In my eyes, these comments were nothing but the results of the U.S. Army allowing ignorance a voice.

It was not until months of vocalizing my concerns that I started to worry about my safety, and it was not until I was threatened that I felt a decline in my mental health. I was threatened with actions such as “negative counseling” or the loss of my rank. My leadership made fun of me when speaking up for myself and others, and it was thanks to this that I learned that the best way to meet their comments and lack of action was by being proactive and adequately utilizing the policies and regulations that were put into place to protect myself and others. To become the voice of reason among those who bathe in ignorance was not a choice but a fight or flight situation in which I had willingly chosen to fight.

It was then that I realized that, contrary to what many articles portrayed, mental health was not the leading cause of women not thriving in male-dominated industries. Women are not thriving in male-dominated industries because of the constant limitations being placed by those above them. It is not due to the lack of representation; it is not the lack of resources. It is due to the lack of commitment women receive from those in charge. The opportunities are there, the resources are there, and the representation is there. The commitment to make women’s treatment normal, fair, and known is what isn’t there.

Not all women will fit the motherly role, not all women want to be sexualized, and not all women want to be in an industry dominated by men, which is normal. What is not normal is blaming these things on the demands of the job, all men who are part of it, or female stereotypes such as their higher risk of experiencing a decline in their mental health like most articles choose to focus on. The truth is that both men and women are struggling in different ways. Men struggle to recognize their female co-workers as simply co-workers. Women in male-dominated industries are not mothers or possible sexual partners. 

Women are struggling to find employers who will commit to educating their coworkers, who will commit to the struggles it might bring to hire women, and who will implement the changes that will need to be implemented to make their workplace a safe, fair, and comfortable environment.