Hi everyone!
I went full-time around a month-and-a-half ago, and have since started a new job so that no one -- with exception to the management -- knows that I'm trans. It has been a huge success in that I'm perceived as female by seemingly everyone, which is a huge relief since I actually work among a lot of blue collar, conservative men.
In general, these men -- and there are hundreds of them in total -- seem to all know that I'm new there, and thus I've experienced many instances in which guys are very nice to me. I've had everything already -- from men I've never seen in my life volunteering to walk beside me to wherever I seem to be walking -- to some man, who seemed really important judging by his suit and tie, stopping me to brag in passing about his salary. It really is pretty insane.
But not everything is so wonderful in my workplace; a surprising number of men treat me like dirt or like one of them, and I'm not sure if it's because they're picking up on me being trans or what. It's really confusing me, and I think I need opinions since I can't really sort it out on my own.
As an example (I work in a gigantic factory, btw), I was driving this little vehicle around the facility to run some errands in the middle of overtime traffic, and the stupid thing randomly died on me and wouldn't start back up. I blocked a lot of traffic and had no idea what to do, so I walked over to this young guy who saw the whole thing happen so as to ask what I should do. He was very smiley, and thus it was pretty evident that I passed; he said that he could push my vehicle out of traffic for me, which was really nice. I started to help him out, but suddenly I heard a lot of men behind me, and one of them yelled, "Hey, YOU!!! Get behind the wheel and steer, and let US push." So, here's one thing I'm really confused about: A lot of men are calling me things that I wouldn't normally hear them call women, such as "Hey, you" or just "HEY".
Moreover, I had a bunch of dirt all over my face at work yesterday, and this higher-up worker came over to me after we got my vehicle moved to ask how everything was. Before asking about the vehicle, he goes, "Hey, you have grease and dirt all over your face, underneath your eyes." I gave him an embarrassed look, and he gave me this odd pat on the side of my shoulder, like a man would give his son or something. It also really confused me, and is just another instance of being treated like a man, even though I'm clearly not one.
Lastly, I'm noticing a few men just being flat-out ass holes to me by yelling at me instead of asking me to do things, and it's really making me even more self-conscious about my appearance. Do men just treat women like ->-bleeped-<- in a factory setting, or in any other setting dominated by men? One of the men who yells at me a lot has also called me "she" while I was around, so that gives me some reassurance. But, at the same time, for every few guys who stop by me to help me get my work done (even if it's not needed) during their off-time or whatever, there's also a guy who seems to just hate that I'm in his vicinity for some reason. Are women just not treated with respect in all work settings? Thoughts?
Ally
