Glass Ceiling for a Brash Young Female Adult

My Brash Young Adult story published here June 1st, provided an account of my introduction into the full time working world.

This is a continuation of that story which includes a dispelling of some youthful ideals. I was a bit reckless following my own standards, but then I learned the older adults were, too, in the interest, I suppose, of what they believed to be justifiably good business practices.

I could not quell my restlessness that resurfaced not too long after that frustrated employment change effort I first wrote about. Once again I sought to satisfy this need for more challenge in my work by seeking employment at a different business, but locally. They said they wanted to hire me, but had to resolve some issues beyond my control.

Little did I know, there was an unwritten understanding among the major employers in town, national companies, banks and other establishments that they would not hire employees from each other. If they did hire another's employee, I expect they wanted to be certain that competitive salaries didn't enter into the mix. This was the matter my prospective employer had to resolve with my then employer.

Because of the efforts of my previously described employer-guardians, as I now thought of them, (one was the son of the company president, the other my immediate supervisor,) they prevailed upon the president of the company to act in a manner I would want. I could not believe it when I heard, that this top national company official, of the second largest corporation in the country in their line of business, had met with the president of the local bank, where I had applied for a job. I was told they had to discuss my situation, agree they would let me change jobs, then establish there would be no hard feelings between them. I began later to wonder, just how far such business management networks extended.

I was allowed to change employers, but unfortunately, once I mastered that bank position, I immediately wanted something new. I inquired about the opportunities for my advancement now, considering I had been one of the two first women they had ever selected to attend special banking classes. I was among the top performers completing that class that was now no longer gender limited to just males. The question to my bank vice president employer was, what other positions did they have for me, coupled with increased salary? I indicated a willingness to pursue additional education and training they might require.

Imagine my disappointment when I learned just how low "the glass ceiling" for a woman was at the bank. Any move would be, at best, basically lateral, or would consist of a title and little more. Even that wouldn't happen until someone then in that position retired. Plus, that would be as far as I could go there. I was already frustrated to know I was making considerably less than my male, married with children, co-worker, who was employed after I was hired. This clearly illustrated my gender as a college educated woman (he didn't have any post high school education) and my single marital status with financial obligations of my own, were hardly assets deserving of a higher pay range. They were, possibly even liabilities for me.

About that time, a change in my personal life resulted in ending an "affair of the heart," as certain relationships are sometimes described. This added momentum to "my restless nature" surfacing once more. I became very discontented, making successive arrangements over a period of time for several employment changes that I later cancelled each time, a couple of weeks before I was to start work. One was a position I had accepted at a college some miles away to which I had planned to commute, together with a younger acquaintance who had simultaneously been hired at that same institution.

After accepting my position, on a first meeting with her parents, I was told how pleased they were that she would be with me, with words to the effect I was being viewed as being responsible for her well-being. This was a responsibility I did not want. I had enough of my own. So, for that reason and other second thoughts, I withdrew from that employment position, assuring her she would do quite well without my presence.

I stressed the opportunities she would have to meet new and interesting young people her age with wider interests than those she knew in our town. Additionally, she could begin to pursue a college education. That wasn't enough motivation for her, I guess, as I learned later she withdrew from her position, too. I know the high level university administrator for whom I was to work was more than a little unhappy with my decision. I was angrily told that if I ever applied for employment there again, I would not be looked upon favorably, to put it mildly.

I could have conducted myself better in these employment pursuits, and resolving my various personal issues. I certainly did subject myself and others to considerable drama. I blithely proceeded ahead during this early period as a young adult, but I was not yet finished creating complexities in the manner with which I was directing my life.

Then, an opportunity for me arose at the local radio station owned by the same family who published the local newspaper, but I'll save the portion of this story for later.

TV Days Memories & Glass Ceilings for Women

This is a continuation of memories and thoughts stimulated by a preceding post “More Movies” in which I ended the piece with observations about one of the movies I had viewed being a sometimes overlooked suspenseful psychological thriller.

I will repeat here some of my comments with a quote from an interview in special features on “The Night Listener” DVD with the book’s author, Armistead Maupin, on whom the movie’s lead character is based.

“…I was intrigued by some of Maupin's observations about the world in which we live today and how we frequently find ourselves in virtual relationships. He talked about how we "...have constructs about the other person that are often more about what we need than what that person actually is and we fool each other by mutual consent in order to get what we want." Interesting thought for those of us in the blogosphere.”

And now … TV Day Memories …

Glass Ceilings for Women …

The classic for me along the psychological thriller line, as for many people, was "Psycho" and Janet Leigh in the shower scene. Here's a bit of behind the scenes humor I learned recently
about the filming of that scene for the movie trailer. Seems another well known actress may have been coerced into playing that role for the filming of that trailer as retribution for her earlier withdrawal as the lead actress in another of this director’s movies.

Before “Psycho” many years ago, I recall seeing a movie that may have been "Cat People."
This was the first and only movie, that quite unnerved me, until "Psycho." I was haunted, literally for years, after exposure to some of that movie’s cat scenes. My horror film aversion developed then.

I recall when "Psycho" was finally first released in movie leasing packages for airing on television stations. I was working at a TV station during that time when movies were carefully edited to allow far fewer commercials than today. Film editing was seriously taken to minimize disruption of the mood and storyline with commercial scheduling sometimes adjusted, even omitted, for a film judged to be of top quality. Movies then were not made to accommodate the time schedules for television showing to end on the hour or half-hour, unless specifically edited to do so, unlike many today. There was little or no TV cable service, much less all movie channels. Old movies were shown for night owls, shift workers just returning home, those who just couldn't get to sleep in the early wee hours of morning.

Also, more serious consideration was given as to the time of day and/or evening when some movies would even be allowed to air, in consideration of younger eyes and ears. The expectation also was that parents used some influence on the viewing habits of their children to enable them to develop some critical judgments about what they viewed, that still seems like a good idea today.

Our station had acquired a certain number of runs or airings for "Psycho," so, it came to be one afternoon, unbeknown to me, the time had come for the engineers to follow-up on our film director's careful editing instructions on "Psycho." Knowing of my sensitivity to this "Psycho" shower scene, and on what must have been a dull afternoon for those engineers, they contrived to lure me into the edit room where I was treated to the shower scene, audio, video in all it's gory glory. My imagination created the rest from the stimulation of a stabbing knife, running blood, a collapsing victim, and that instrumental eerie-sounding music segment. To say that I became unnerved would be putting it mildly. I just could not help myself, to their great delight, since this was probably the only time they ever got the best of me in such a manner. Keeping one step ahead of their pranks took some pretty fancy dancing footwork, let me tell you. Of course, when all was said and done, that was a fun and enjoyable time of my life and the guys were a great group with which to work.

These thirty to forty engineers were all members of the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.) At that time B&W television cameras were huge in size and heavy in weight, were mounted to a cameraman’s eye level, then the mount on wheels had to be pushed around on the studio floor (see the evolution of the floor camera size in pictures HERE at the site of a then major powerhouse electronics manufacturer.)

Cameras became even more cumbersome when we went to color. In both instances there were large circumference thick black cables spread out all over the studio floors during our live programming. These cables came under the province of engineering, to be moved only by them. If the cameraman's responsibilities were such he was unable to do so, then clearly another engineer needed to be hired was the classic view. This increased the costs for producing programs and commercials. Cost containment was always of concern to programming, production, sales, sponsors and managment.

The cables often needed to be pushed out of the way so guests wouldn't trip over them. If the need arose I could with some slight effort readily push the cables aside with my feet (couldn't touch them with my hands.) This was more than welcomed by engineers and all production crew members as an incidental little act, a quick convenience for all concerned, since I was there in the studio, responsible for the welfare of guests and audiences and a multitude of other tasks required of all in a station of only one hundred or so employees. Periodically, though, union contract negotiations with management would occur. Sometimes they could become quite contentious. I was young, new and these engineering guys carefully protected me with a reminder that no one could touch the cables, not even with just their feet but them during this time, or a grievance would be filed. That was my first experience with labor unions.

This was the late fifties, early sixties. It did not escape me that there were no women in their ranks, nor until someone slightly older than me, who later became my good friend, returned at the behest of a male supporter to our NBC-TV affiliate station in her home state from then network offices at NYC’s ABC-TV did we have a woman in the control room. This was one of many glass ceilings in various professional areas of which I had been aware. I challenged them first hand as best I could in my limited way. I am quite confident pressures brought to bear by many women of that time, with the support of numerous men, resulting in some limited success, laid the groundwork for the gains from which later generations of women have continued to benefit.

The gains of these later generations of women, to some extent, are a matter of timing and when they were born. The time was ripe for break through and those in later generations who have done so were quite fortunate to have been born into the generation they were. For anyone to fail to recognize groundwork laid by this earlier fifties generation, and the one before them, and the part birth timing played in women’s gains in the sixties and later, or to fail to accord consideration of these older women’s contributions is simply ignoring reality.

The fact there continues to be a disparity of income between the sexes would suggest the women of today should not be idly resting on their laurels, but pressing ahead, enlisting the support of fathers, brothers, other males who understand and support the women in their lives, much as increasing numbers of those in earlier generations have for their own benefit and the benefit of daughters, granddaughters, all women to come.