Women in woodworking

[woodferret]

Women who do male-tagged things are invisible when working.  It's only when people want to signal that they become visible - not for the things they do, but because of their gender.  There then becomes a weird expectation that we should enter every room and conversation with pink flair.  It's tiresome.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Getting anyone to work in the cabinet shop is a challenge. For the last 10 years or so there has been a continuous shortage, even worse in the last 2 years.
But, I guess that "woodworker" doesn't have to mean as a profession. There are plenty of hobby woodworkers out there.

 

[ChuckM]

Judging from the woodworking shows I've been to, I'd say there're far more hobby woodworkers than those who do woodworking for a living in North America (not counting the construction or assembly type of workers hired at industrial settings like IKEA or cabinet factories).

 

[batmanimal]

[member=69275]Adamsse[/member] nice to meet you!

I am a female woodworker hobbyist. I generally don’t talk about it because I don’t feel my gender is even close to the most interesting thing about me. I also am wary of inviting unwelcome comments, as I have worked in male dominated industries before and, well, I have learned to be careful. But as I get older, I’ve realized that if someone has a problem with me because I am a woman, that’s their problem, not mine!

I hope I am setting a strong example for my son and daughter who see mom building the bookshelves and cabinets, and doing the framing and deck and treehouse. With lots of tools of course (largely of the green and blue variety).

I have my hands full these days with a new German Shepherd puppy. She is my new shop helper. So I haven’t had time to be as active on here.

One thing I’ve noticed about myself is that I tend to set a higher standard for women in the building industry who have a public social presence, and I’m realizing now that it’s not fair. I will just watch a woman’s YT channel with a more critical eye because I protectively don’t want her to be dismissed as a novice and therefore women in general categorized as such (perhaps some self defensiveness kicking in here). And whenever I see prominent women woodworkers deliberately catering to novices (ie using pocket screws everywhere, settling for butt joints when a miter would be better, etc) I am almost personally offended by it! Whereas there are plenty of male woodworkers out on YT and Instagram doing the same things and it doesn’t bother me. That’s something I need to work on.

I do love See Jane Drill! I have learned a lot of “why didn’t I think of that?!” tips from her.

 

[Sparktrician]

When I attended Shelter Institute in '84 and Solar Energy International in '06, roughly 1/3 of the instructors were women, and according to Blueberry Beeton of Shelter, roughly 25% of the students are women.  I'm delighted to have had the experience of their perspective and to have worked with them.  [smile]

 

[Adamsse]

[member=69275]Adamsse[/member] nice to meet you!

[member=77343]batmanimal[/member] The feeling is mutual.  I’m also a hobbyist woodworker, now for about 4 years.  I’ve been lurking for quite a while and just started posting recently.  I love the FOG community, and it’s great to know there are other women woodworkers out there too.  So much to learn!  Sandy

 

[Mini Me]

Every WW course I have done has had women though far outnumbered by men but that is the way of the world. You could reverse the question and ask why more men don't sew, knit, crochet etc, some do but not many and that too is the way of the world. I look at my wife and I am absolutely gobsmacked by how clever she is at everything she does but she did a dressmaking and design 5 year indentured apprenticeship. I had a automotive workshop and one of the technicians was a young lady who was very good at her job and again there are not many female technicians in the industry. 

 

[ChuckM]

My first manager (in my real career) was a woman. If she were a lousy manager, I myself would've become a lousy one, too, later in my life, because fresh from college, we tended to copy how our first immediate boss acted. Interestingly in my case, the two most indecisive bosses I had worked for were both men.