I'm a female engineer that moved into management early in my career. In order to survive working in such a male dominated world I had to become one of the guys as best I could. I wear conservative business suits, learn as much as I can about football and basketball, and never say no to a lunch, diner or beers after work.
It suited my career well and I moved up the corporate ladder nicely. As a successful alpha female I convinced my husband to be the stay at home parent and work very little in order to support my career.
So when I took a new job to further my career as director of engineering at a large company, I was fully prepared for the fact that I was the only woman in a 6 person management team.
I was quickly "one of the guys." Lunch twice a week, Monday night football with the team, beers and wine whenever I had one pushed in front of me.
A few months into the job during a long lunch away from the office my boss suggested I should stop dressing so frumpy. Maybe some skirts instead of the boring suit pants.
I realized no one was making a sound at the table. All eyes were on me as he made this seemingly casual statement, and they were awaiting my reaction. Now there was two directions I could go -- as a strong independent modern woman who wouldn't stand for this obvious sexism.....or I could respond like one of the guys.
I didn't get where I was in the corporate world by being the Me-Too bitch. So I laughed at him and said "sure, I'll see what I have in the back of the closet." The rest laughed with him and we finished lunch. In reality I was seething mad and didn't say much the rest of the lunch.
The rest of the work day went by quickly and I drove home earlier than usual for me (only a 10 hour workday). I went home to a nice dinner cooked by hubby, watched some tv, and tossed and turned for much of the night. I woke up the next day and started dressing and preparing like I always do. As I was ready to head out the door something stopped me. I can't explain why or what it was, but I found myself digging into my closet for a skirt I've not worn for years. I slipped the slacks off and the skirt on.
As I walked into our usual morning management standup meeting I saw my boss smile at me and all the guys take a long look at my bared legs. This was how it began.