Getting Something Off My Chest

My company has launched a big corporate initiative this year to promote women and minorities--this is not a new concept for my company, but now it's been brought out in the open as one of the "Top Priorities". Rather than encouraging me, this pisses me off because I have witnessed great people being passed over for a promotion just because they weren't the right gender or color. Meaning they weren't a "minority" or female. It bugs the crap out of me that people may look at me and think I made it to where I am because I'm a woman. I bust my butt to be the best at my job, and I am smart enough to educate myself and do things to make myself a great asset for my company--I certainly don't rely on my gender to get me anywhere. It makes me sick that this country continues to make a big deal out of race & gender in the workplace--I have yet to witness someone being discriminated against for not being white or for being a woman. And I work in a shipyard. Those of you who may be offended by this, I don't apologize. You cannot blame anyone for where you are--get up, take responsibility to get where you want to be and do something constructive about it. I am a woman in a male-dominated workplace, and it drives me to be better than all of them because I'll be damned if any of them are going to question if I rose through the ranks because I'm a woman.

You may be asking what set me off. I am interviewing for a big promotion, and the first thing people around me have asked is "How many other women are interviewing?" Because as long as a woman is going for the job, they all assume no man will ever get it. What a bunch of shit. I will not be known as the person who got that job just because I am a woman. That doesn't mean I'm withdrawing my application--it just means that there is a fire under my butt. I am now driven to show everyone in my company that I am the most qualified and best person for the job, reagardless of gender. And if I don't get the job, I will know that I did my best and didn't just sit back waiting for a hand-out.