Attending A Professional Gathering Does Not A Professional Make
Being the dork that I am (sorry for all you anonymous readers out there who have been misled by my attendance at hip concerts), I went to the monthly talk presented by the Washington Conservation Guild. The talk was on the technique of fore-edge painting on books, given by the renowned English master, Martin Frost. A quirky guy and a quirky niche of art, but really no one but me cares to hear about it.
What I was really thinking about during the lecture was 1. how young a I felt and 2. how male I felt. The first thought was prompted by a friend's musings on aging as a young person. In a room filled with professional conservators, I felt vaguely out of place because of my relative youth. Not that it was an old crowd by most standards, but even being surrounded by 30 year olds can make one self-conscious. The added fact that everyone there who I recognized was a major name in their field didn't help either.
Fears of age-bias aside, I couldn't help but contemplate the vast gender imbalance in the room. Sure, I was a man, the speaker was a man, the guy who runs the Hillwood Estate (very nice by the by, a great place to take a date on a sunny Sunday) was a man, but out of the other thirty or forty people, there were only two other guys. Now that will make a person self-conscious. Of course this is not the first time that the my side has lost the battle of the sexes in professional settings. In fact, I don't think that I have ever been to a professional gathering at which there were more men than women, and as a dude I find that very unusual (I was going to write unsettling, but that simply isn't true). Chew on that thought.
In the end, I escaped without embarrassing myself in front of my peers (um can you actually call them peers if they are forty years older than you with resumes to put you to shame?). And that's what counts.
What I was really thinking about during the lecture was 1. how young a I felt and 2. how male I felt. The first thought was prompted by a friend's musings on aging as a young person. In a room filled with professional conservators, I felt vaguely out of place because of my relative youth. Not that it was an old crowd by most standards, but even being surrounded by 30 year olds can make one self-conscious. The added fact that everyone there who I recognized was a major name in their field didn't help either.
Fears of age-bias aside, I couldn't help but contemplate the vast gender imbalance in the room. Sure, I was a man, the speaker was a man, the guy who runs the Hillwood Estate (very nice by the by, a great place to take a date on a sunny Sunday) was a man, but out of the other thirty or forty people, there were only two other guys. Now that will make a person self-conscious. Of course this is not the first time that the my side has lost the battle of the sexes in professional settings. In fact, I don't think that I have ever been to a professional gathering at which there were more men than women, and as a dude I find that very unusual (I was going to write unsettling, but that simply isn't true). Chew on that thought.
In the end, I escaped without embarrassing myself in front of my peers (um can you actually call them peers if they are forty years older than you with resumes to put you to shame?). And that's what counts.
posted by Fletch at
10:49 AM
4 Comments:
I actually don't get this: You felt intimidated by 30 year olds (dude, six years away), and by being surrounded by women?
Oh, how the tables have turned. First of all, you're more mature than most 30 year olds. Second of all, most women are intimidated by most men, even ones that are younger than they are.
Fearing the graduate degrees, that I can understand, but remember, you, uh, just got into graduate school. Soon you'll be in front of that lectern. And when you are, I suggest wearing a fake wedding ring, because there's not much that 30 year old women think about besides getting married and making babies. And if they are anywhere as dorky as you are, they sure aren't going to have men in their lives to do that with.
J.
By
Anonymous, at 1:01 PM
we're friends? righteous!
By
Sarah, at 3:37 PM
Fear of your peers is normal and probably healthy. Otherwise you'd come off as a cocky, young, know-it-all snot. A good way to make impressions, but not ones that you'd want.
Working in an 'older' field has it's bonuses as well. These careers tend to have more mentor-based interactions that can really help a younger entrant. At the same time, it is a bit harder to earn respect until you are more established. However, once you gain the respect it carries further.
~Brian
By
Brian, at 3:21 AM
fore edge painting discusion sounds fun to me.
so does meeting the hillwood guy. that place is great.
By
Anonymous, at 9:46 AM
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