Gender Bending

I got into a taxi today with a female driver.  As we pulled up next to a big city bus, also driven by a woman, I started thinking about the jobs women in China occupy that they typically don’t back in the US.  In my six years in New York City, I think I saw a female cabbie once. They’re in the minority here, but definitely not uncommon.  In NYC there were some female bus drivers, but not typically, whereas here I’d say it’s about 50/50.  In New York, I never once saw a female construction worker or utility repairwoman.  Yet I’ve noticed many construction crews here with women in the mix, and utility crews in the streets fixing water or electrical lines almost always include at least one woman.

This whole reflection in the taxi reminded me of an experience Matt and I had when we first moved into our apartment here.  Our sliding glass doors leading out to the balcony were broken, so we called the complex’s maintenance office and they said they’d send a worker right up.  When the doorbell rang, Matt opened it to discover a very petite, middle-aged woman dressed smartly in a satin floral blouse, black slacks, and black high heels.  He turned to me and shrugged; surely something had been lost in translation and the management office didn’t understand the nature of our request.  As he and I wondered how to rectify this, she kicked off her heels, went over to the door, opened her toolkit, and commenced banging and poking and screwing until the door smoothly slid open and shut.  I was impressed, and then embarrassed to be impressed, and then excited to live in a place that was clearly going to break down some stereotypes – in both expected and unexpected ways.

Many Americans make the mistake of assuming that China’s developing economy and non-democratic government have resulted in a society that surely isn’t as progressive as ours.  But as I read the American news (with political gaffes, racially-charged crimes, and woeful business reports), I think my female taxi driver might begin to challenge that assumption.