P.S. Mods, this discussion really belongs to a separate thread: why not spin it off from say post #30?
No, it's okay, I offer to allow the thread drift, I think it appropriate, and follows the original theme of [togetherness] well!
and you want to talk to the pilot about said aircraft, why not use the opening gambit of, "Hi, which one of you is the expert on this xxxx aircraft"?
Oooo, that would not work with me! Letting alone any gender issuse at all, I'd be looking around the ramp for someone else to whom to direct the enquiry! A long long time ago, I once blundered into pronouncing myself as the "expert" on an aircraft. After being effectivly taken down a notches, and appropriately so, it was gently explained to me that an "ex" is a has been, and a "spert" is a drip under pressure. Never again - I just know
something about aircraft....
Perhpas you would introduce another approach Whirls...
Another industry, in which I have been well immersed for twenty years, can also be very sexist - Firefighter.
It can be difficult for women to find their footing in this "guild". When I decided to introduce my daughter (then 18) to what we did - sort of "take your kid to work day", some prebriefing seemed appropriate. I told her to always show respect those more experienced than she, treat every person exactly as she would want to be treated, and to never ever not step in to pull her share when it was appropriate. A week later she was right beside me, lifting a leg to pull a dead guy out of his crunched car. She was hired as our fourth volunteer firefighter out of 55 at the time. Six years on, she is more formally trained than I, and takes on most of the responsibility for a lot of our training. She is one of 8 females out of 60 of us, and our Fire department has the highest percentage of females known in Ontario. I have never had to rise to her defense, and never known her to have been poorly or sexist treated. Using the term "guys" in its apparent non-gender specific context, she's just one of them...
And just for a little colour in this thread, here we are during training...
But I drift the drift....
I agree that there are females who are unfairly the vicitms of gender descrimination in aviation, as in just about every other aspect of life. But, when well meaning males make the extra effort toward being inclusive to females, it can backfire with undertones of that male having other motives, it is a very fine line. If females wish to be treated equally, they will serve themselves well by accepting what goes by them in social circles as equally as they can tolerate. It's fair to indicate their desire to not be the intended victims of descimination, but I think it unfair, and divisive for them to catch every little slip, and spotlight it. Some things have to be left to slide, or our society will be forever stumbling over policial correctness, and never get anything done. I happily observe now in the Fire Department, the females in the group make remarks which the men are best to let slide, and usually we do!
I'm sure that if males can find a way (exclusive of identifying "experts") of being gender inclusive, they generally would. When a few sexists do not, then some male to male mentoring might be helpful, and I'm happy to do my part. But females share responsibility for paving this path forward too...