As women, sexism still remains part of the structure of our lives.

It happens at an alarming rate- and when it does it is a compounding feeling- each incident reminds you of these subversive forces still at play: the forces that believe you are weak, that you are not capable. Of course it is not true. We are strong, we are capable– that’s why we do what we do, and we do it well. For the last decade, our CEO- Brenna Vertz- has installed projects of every type and size all over Seattle. Still, and just earlier this week, Brenna received a call from a random person who pressed: “how’s a little girl like you going to hang my art?”… Just another drop in the bucket.

Prejudice won’t deter us from our chosen path- while we will slide by your veiled critiques with grace, it still is a part of our reality. In our small way by writing this blog post we are doing what we feel we need to- to share our experiences, to shine a light on these private experiences: that is the way forward. Because again, these concepts are so subversive and ingrained into our societies that the ignorance of those who continue to prejudice is not completely their fault. It becomes their fault when faced with the light, a choice is made to stay in darkness.

We as a society have made such incredible strides towards gender equality thanks to the women (and men) who shattered glass ceilings- because of those who remained where they “don’t belong”. Regardless of the progress that has been made, there still remains prejudices against women- both blatant and subversive- that need to brought into the light and dismantled.

As professional art installers (who are women), we still face skepticism and patronization (unfortunately mostly from male customers). Many times we get on-site to be greeted by a man who seems shocked by a female being there— we frequently get questioned if we have brought simple tools, such as a hammer; or questioning how we could possibly be strong enough to lift even the simplest things. Here are just a handful of things said recently to us…

• “Wow you’re so strong”– This has been said to me one million times when lifting anything from a pencil to 200lb mirror.  *This is insulting because it is meant as a compliment, with the expectation that because I am a woman I am weak and therefore can’t lift anything.

• “I’ll carry that for you”. That’s “nice” but no, you hired professional art installers- we are plenty capable of doing every aspect of our job and insist upon it.

• Talking only to the male installers when we show up on jobs.

• Offering handshakes to only the males on site

• Men winking at me at the end of presentation. 

• Man walks into the shop— walks past both females behind desks and back to production to say to the only male in the building “you must be the owner!”. Our CEO, a woman, was at the front desk.

• “Do you need a tape measure or did you bring one?” Yes, we- the professional art installers- brought a tape measure.

• “Got your little tool belt there” — We have full sized, normal tool belts.

• “Got your cute little roll-y toolbox huh?” Again, we have full sized, normal tool boxes. Carrying the same tool box, none of our male installers have been told it’s cute.

• Answers door for installers— looks around lead installer to see if a man is there.

• After sending invoice— what you do “is not that hard” and didn’t want to pay the full amount. Sure, you could grab a hammer and nail and put up your own art. But we have a decades worth of experience with installation on every surface, placement consultations, and best practices– that’s why you hire us: we are art professionals.

• Men micromanaging our female installers (by contrast our male installers do not experience this at the same rates)— questioning the method of hanging, grilling every little detail because they’re inherently skeptical of a woman who is capable of using powertools- of having a physical skill that they do not possess.

Yikes, right? Well fear not, progress is happening! And we all have a role to play in shaping our futures- one where men, women, or however you identify, are free to do their jobs without ignorant scrutiny.

As women, we have to pick our battles- but remaining true on our course is our biggest strength. Keep pushing forward. Do not fall into the victim-to-victimizer trap. We are all brothers & sisters in this life- treat each other and yourself with respect.

And men, challenge yourself & do the work to identify old ideas you may still hold onto, stand up when you see something (and practice witnessing these exchanges- being witness is another way to bring issues to light).

Non-Binary Folx, we see you and the struggle you face– our language of “men” and “women” are only symbols to introduce a complicated issue. It doesn’t matter how you identify- you are a person deserving of respect of existence.

Someday we will live in a world where our expectations of people will be directly linked to the individual, their skills & expertise. That will happen when we finally dismantle the gender stereotypes that have kept us in cages for most of human existence.

I will leave this article with the famous and ever-pertinent quote from former Supreme Court Justice, Lewis Brandeis: