Personally, I don’t imagine myself as a Civic agent. My experiences of being a male in a predominantly female role are just that, my experiences. My dream job is to work within a professional sports franchise in some sort of capacity. The majority of your top roles in all of the major US sports are held by rich, white, men. There aren’t a whole lot of women in those types of roles. There have been some women that have been owners such as Marge Schott who owned the Cincinnati Reds and Jeannie Buss who is the inherited owner of the Los Angeles Lakers. Are there big companies and offices that do have women in prominent roles? My answer would be I don’t know, but I would assume there are. My last job had a male CEO, and Male sales executive, but the majority of the other executives were female. So the question is, does it make a difference what type of role it is?

I remember reading a story about how a male was the President/CEO of a well known cosmetics company. The company is a fortune 500 company so it obviously does well, but because of what it sells there is a stereotype that the CEO must be a homosexual. In past posts I talked about how males in roles such as fashion design or hair styling do exist, but that also comes with a very specific stigma. That stigma is like I mentioned above, that they must be gay. In no way am I saying being gay is bad or good or that I am for or against it, but when it is used in the context regarding males in these roles it definitely has a negative connotation.

Basically, what is needed is someone of prominence to be an advocate for males in typically female dominated roles. In this day an age people take the words and actions of their favorite celebrities as gospel, so would having celebrities be the face be the change that is needed? I believe it would be a step in the right direction.

How do we forge solidarity with those who haven’t had the same experiences? I think first and foremost it’s about having an open mind. When it comes to politics, we can disagree on who we want to be president but we still have the ability to discuss it. One of the best quotes I’ve seen is we can disagree on things and still be friends.

What I have been talking about more recently is gender inequality in the workplace. My experience from the types of jobs I’ve had is that while I am a male in the roles, they are typically held by females. The last 4 or 5 managers I have had through various roles at my last job and my current one have all been women. The positions I have held are mostly relationship bases and it really seemed that the mindset was that women were better at making and maintaining relationships with our customers. Once one of the managers decided they wanted to leave, it always seemed that there was another woman ready to immediately step into their roles. It’s not to say that women aren’t as qualified, or in a lot of cases more qualified, but it often felt like males weren’t given a fair chance.

Personally, I think a way to overcome that or forge together is to voice that to the leadership within the company. The company was big on listening to its employees and giving everyone a chance to be heard. In most cases that I knew of, when someone did that they were free from backlash and able to do it without negative consequences. I also think that some males that were in those types of roles could band together to give the other males a voice. In a lot of prominent roles in American businesses, women seem to be underpaid and treated as lesser employees, even though they are doing the same jobs, but what I want to make clear is it does happen in reverse as well.

I’ve talked previously about gender equality in the work place and stereotypes attached to certain jobs and careers. In previous posts I mentioned that there are beliefs that certain jobs should be maintained by women, more specifically hair stylists and fashion designers. How can we change those stereotypes, or mindsets? In the day and age of social media I think we can use that to our advantage. We could start by using our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms to talk about the importance of these jobs and how someone could get involved in it. Facebook groups or Twitter feeds could really open up some eyes. Also, I believe it would help a lot to reach out to some of the specialized colleges and universities that offer these types of programs and review their course catalogs. I can almost guarantee that their course catalogs show women in any pictures or advertisement or men that look a specific way. I think if the images were changed and not only showed women that it could potentially get more interest from men of all different backgrounds. I think it would it would help eliminate any negative stereotypes or stigmas about other males that may already be in those programs. I think if we were able to learn of enrollment numbers for males in those types of programs it could help us gauge what kind of impact this could make. Naturally if enrollment numbers go up in these areas it could lead to a more diverse work force and we would see more males and females working similar type jobs.

Often times when gender equality is discussed in the work place it is mostly assumed that women being paid less for the same job is what is being discussed. I have found that often men get in to jobs or positions that are mostly held by women. For instance, when a male is working as a hair dresser or fashion designer it is still considered unusual, and assumed that they must be homosexual. In some cases that is true, but I don’t necessarily think it is true in all cases. I also feel like there are a lot of negative stereotypes around males being nurses. I have a lot of friends that are nurses and have had a lot of males in their classes, or have worked with them in some sort of capacity. My current job is working in a bank and most of the positions within my branch are held by women. My branch is run by a female as are the other branches in our region. Most of our bank tellers are women as well as our personal bankers. I think in order to imagine a better world we need to start by getting rid of the negative stereotypes that surround males working in female dominated professions. I think we are typically fighting against traditionalist mindsets that think only women should be hair stylists or fashion designers, or only females should be personal bankers. In the long run, I think we all need to work together to help eliminate this in both directions. Often times there are females working in jobs where males believe they shouldn’t be, such as you may see in sports journalism. It definitely goes both ways.

In my personal experiences I have come across times where I feel like being a male may have cost me a job or two. My first experience dates back to when I was in high school and I applied to work at a place called CareCall. A female friend of mine from school had informed about how she worked there and the money was pretty good. Naturally, as a high school kid the thought of making good money was intriguing. The time came, I submitted my application, went for an interview and knew pretty much right away that I didn’t get the job. That same friend was bummed when she found out I didn’t get the job, but through later conversations we discovered that most of her supervisors and co-workers on her team were female. I didn’t think about that being a potential reason for not getting the job at the time, but it definitely became something I thought about later.

Another example is at my last job prior to the one I currently have. It was working in a role called relationship management. The manager was female, her manager was female, and all but one of the team members were female. The role I came from before it, was run by a female as well. When the role opened up, I applied and was a finalist, but was denied the position even though I was told I had an incredible interview. There were two open positions and both went to female candidates. The role became available once again, and I applied again, went through the interview process and again was turned down for a female. It appeared from the outside looking in that this role was mostly a role that was filled by female employees. When the role came available for a 3rd time, I again applied and was this time selected, but it was not an easy process. Shortly after I joined the team, the only other male that was on the team left for another role and I was fortunate enough to sit in on the interview process for the candidates to replace him. There were multiple candidates, all had great interviews, but the female was chosen. Once the manager left, she was then replaced immediately, by another female with no additional candidate looked at.

I am not saying that the female candidates were not qualified as well, as they clearly were, but at times it did feel that being interviewed and going through the process was a formality that they needed to follow. Again, I do not believe that the female candidates were less qualified because they were finalists as I was but I do feel this is a great example of how gender inequality in the workplace does work both ways.

Are there any other examples of where this might have existed?

Gender equality has long been a topic up for discussion. This topic has always been a topic of interest for me. We often hear stories about how women do the same jobs as men but get paid less or how they do not get an equal opportunity playing field. While I do agree that there are many women who are as qualified or more qualified than a man for the same position, and in some case they don’t get the job, I do believe that it sometimes can be flipped. What I mean by that is there are some cases where a man might be entering a field that is more common among women, and may be overlooked because he is a man. I think this is a rather interesting topic because when the term Gender Equality is brought up, it’s automatically assumed that it’s referring to women in the workplace. Again, by no means am I undermining the fact that it does exist and women are in some cases treated like lesser human beings, but I do feel that it is important to understand it does go both ways. I have come across a few examples where this has existed in the reverse order and I do feel it is important for that angle to be discussed as well. It is not intended to start a gender war but is simply to open eyes that it does in fact work both ways.

For the first time since I was a little kid, my family and I have cut the cord. It was a tough decision as both my wife and I have shows and channels that we like to watch. We also have a toddler who has movies and channels that he insists on watching. What it really boiled down to was money and time. Our cable bill was astronomical in price and seemed to continue going up. It just started adding up to where it didn’t make any more sense. It felt like if there was ever a time to do it, now was it with all the streaming services and opportunities to watch TV and movies right from our smartphones and tablets. It recently has felt kind of strange not being able to just turn the TV on and start watching something but it’s starting to become more natural. I’ve had several conversations with others who cut the cord a long time ago and most have said they don’t miss it. For me, it seems like weird timing since I’m a big sports fan and this is a big time for sports with the NHL stanley cup, Major League Baseball playoffs about to start and football starting up, but I have other ways I can watch it. My wife and I had talked about doing this for quite a while but finally decided to make the call and get it done. I can’t wait to start having that extra money in our bank account. Have any of you cut the cord? How have you managed?

I think in today’s society most people would like to consider themselves literate when it comes to technology. Many have smartphones, tablets, laptops and other ways of connecting to the outside world right from their fingertips. How would you really define whether or not you are technologically literate? I guess that could be open to interpretation. I like to think that I know my way around a smartphone or tablet, but there are so many things that my smartphone does that I have no idea about. I know how to download apps and use them once they are downloaded, but if I ever have an issue with one I don’t know how to troubleshoot it, or even begin to try and figure out why. I have a Facebook page, and a Twitter account that I use regularly and actually enjoy. I have an Instagram account, but I couldn’t even tell you the last time I’ve logged on to it. I also have a Linkedin account, but again have no recent time frame of when I have last used it. My main reasons for even having a smartphone are because I can use Facebook, Twitter and Google on the regular and quickly. Not too long ago I got kicked out of Facebook and had to re-log in but couldn’t remember my password, and it took me a while to get logged back in. I have a 4 year old son who knows how to access kids YouTube from my wife’s Ipad and I barely know how to navigate to the next screen on it. Personally, I feel like I know just enough about how to use these things to keep me interested, but not enough to really do anything with it. Often times I have to ask my wife for assistance when trying to upload photos or use a certain feature on Facebook or Snapchat.

Is there a way to be both literate and illiterate at the same time? I feel like this would be me if there is. I can use these items, but don’t use them to their full value. The funny thing is, usually when it’s time to get a new cell phone, I always want to splurge for the newest and hottest one but should I be? It doesn’t seem like I’m really using a smartphone in the ways that it was designed to be used. I also have a smart TV that I really have no idea how to use. I can turn it on, connect to the cable and search through some of the apps, but again have no idea what else it is capable of. That being said, I believe the answer to my question would be that I am technologically illiterate. Do you agree?

We’ve talked a lot about how books and newspaper prints are kind of taking a back seat to digital versions. It’s interesting to me to see that there are a lot of people out there that still prefer the print version to the digital version. Personally, I like having the option of digital books and I use them regularly for my college courses, or even when I read for pleasure. In all honesty, I don’t read for pleasure very often, but the last few times I have purchased books it has been on a digital platform such as my kindle. However, the last time I actually finished a book from cover to cover it was the actual physical version, so there must be something to be said about actually having it in front of you to pick up, hold and put down when needed. In my most recent college courses I elected for digital versions of the course reading material and have preferred that over the physical copies. To me it seems interesting that in the day of technology that there are still quite a few folks out there that prefer the actual physical, in the flesh version of a book, newspaper, magazine or other types of print. More recently, a lot of newspapers and magazines that I grew up reading or using have switched to mostly virtual and even recommend that you subscribe on their website and use their digital option. To me, the digital option just seems a lot more convenient. I think about when I travel. It’s a lot easier to pack a tablet or mobile phone that has several different books or prints in digital form than it is to lug around multiple books, magazines, newspapers or other types of prints. In my honest opinion.

The funny thing is, I mentioned that I don’t often read for pleasure but use social media on a regular basis. So technically, if I am reading posts of my friends and looking at photos and videos I am doing a lot of reading for pleasure. I, like many others spend a large amount of time surfing the internet and using different social media platforms. With this also comes a share of issues, as it makes it a lot easier to have things at our fingertips. I have a hard time keeping my phone down and doing what I’m supposed to be doing. A lot of times, I don’t even have anything specific to look at, but just the fact I can pick it up, and click on my app and have all the information I need right in front of me, is what I like about it.

One of the earliest experiences I can remember with technology minus the landline phone with the cord was when I got my first cell phone. It was the old nokia phone with the antenna that you pushed in and out in order to have better connection. It was used strictly as a phone. You could call on it, and play like one or two games. The main game was snake, literally a little snake going through little mazes trying to eat the little blocks. I remember not being very good at it. In my household it was a pretty big deal to even have a cell phone. It was that feeling of, wow, I made it. Then came my cousin, he had a phone that did this new thing called texting. He was typing away on his phone, so naturally I was confused. Who could he be calling so much? He quickly made it clear to me that he was texting. This wasn’t your standard texting that we all know and love today, this was you pushed buttons two or three times to get the letter you wanted. Not long after that, they came out with t9 version where you could select different words in the memory bank to speed it up. Mind blown. Within days, I went in to the cell phone store to see if I could add texting to mine. The answer I got was, well you can do pay by message. Being a young kid, my first thought was, how much am I really going to use it? Not much I’m sure. Who knew? Of course with that came all of the little shops and kiosks in the mall that sold cell phone accessories. How about an attachable antenna that causes your screen to blink different colors? Why not? Seemed like a good idea. Side note: it wasn’t. It basically wrecked my phone because it wasn’t compatible. I was still on a cell phone plan with my mom, needless to say, that was a fun conversation about why I needed a new phone.

One story I think my parents would tell about my experiences with technology would probably center around video games and different video game systems. Growing up, I had multiple gaming systems (some I still have) and it always seemed like I got the new, exciting system. We were those kids on the block who’s friends would come over because we had a Nintendo. Wait, now the Sega Genesis is coming out? We had to have it, and I did. From there it went to Playstation 1, then Playstation 2, Playstation 3, and now currently the Playstation 4. The better the systems got, the more I had to upgrade. The funny thing is, I have held on to a Nintendo and still have my Sega genesis. I play them on occasion.