Female interviewers
First of all, I'd like to thank the lovely people of this blog for extending me an invitation to be a part of it.
Second, I'd like to raise an issue that has bothered me for my entire academic and working life. I'm curious if others have felt the same way.
Like oh so many others, I've been on my callback tour. At one firm, they apologized that there were no female interviewers on the list and offered to find some should I so desire. I didn't want to tell them that female interviewers make me nervous.
In general, I relate less well to females in superior positions than males - professors, bosses, interviewers, etc. I used to call myself a misogynist as a result, sometimes choosing classes in such a manner as to avoid female professors. Always nagging at the back of my mind was the notion that deep down inside I sexualized every relationship, and being a generally heterosexual female, I related better to men because I objectified them as potential sexual objects, no matter how old, married, or decrepit they were.
Maybe it's also a jealousy issue - as a woman striving to be successful, women more successful than myself are a threat, filling the quota of the necessary female career woman in whatever job sector they happen to inhabit.
What really bothers me is that I know that were I to be in the position of the interviewer, I would expect more out of a female candidate than out of a male one - she would have to be better qualified, more articulate, more dominating than her male counterparts. I remember hearing muttered expression of resentment by male classmates that us girls had it easier getting into college - we were women after all. That attitude permeated my awareness and made me furious - I wasn't just equally qualified, I was better qualified. And perhaps as a result, I am harsher in judging women than men, and assume that my superiors view me in the same way, contributing in another way to my discomfort with female interviewers.
Second, I'd like to raise an issue that has bothered me for my entire academic and working life. I'm curious if others have felt the same way.
Like oh so many others, I've been on my callback tour. At one firm, they apologized that there were no female interviewers on the list and offered to find some should I so desire. I didn't want to tell them that female interviewers make me nervous.
In general, I relate less well to females in superior positions than males - professors, bosses, interviewers, etc. I used to call myself a misogynist as a result, sometimes choosing classes in such a manner as to avoid female professors. Always nagging at the back of my mind was the notion that deep down inside I sexualized every relationship, and being a generally heterosexual female, I related better to men because I objectified them as potential sexual objects, no matter how old, married, or decrepit they were.
Maybe it's also a jealousy issue - as a woman striving to be successful, women more successful than myself are a threat, filling the quota of the necessary female career woman in whatever job sector they happen to inhabit.
What really bothers me is that I know that were I to be in the position of the interviewer, I would expect more out of a female candidate than out of a male one - she would have to be better qualified, more articulate, more dominating than her male counterparts. I remember hearing muttered expression of resentment by male classmates that us girls had it easier getting into college - we were women after all. That attitude permeated my awareness and made me furious - I wasn't just equally qualified, I was better qualified. And perhaps as a result, I am harsher in judging women than men, and assume that my superiors view me in the same way, contributing in another way to my discomfort with female interviewers.
posted by Nixie at 5:17 PM
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