Marge Piercy's "The Secretary Chant"

After taking to today's final exam and reading Marge Piercy's poem, "The Secretary Chant," I couldn't help but think about my future career, and how being a woman might affect it. While I believe today that there are many more opportunities available to women, we cannot forget how we may be perceived in what is still, generally, "a man's world." Sexual harassment still happens all the time, in small businesses and in top corporations. Women are still objects of desire, which in part is caused by the social constructions our world creates. Men still continue to objectify women and treat them as sexual objects on the street and in the workplace. I work in a restaurant/sports bar where the clientele is predominantly male and the staff is almost completely made up of young, attractive women. The way we women are treated is almost solely based on our attractiveness to the male customers. I am always first treated as a sexual object, then as a server. The way I look, not my job performance, plays heavily on the amount of money I will make. The males that I work with, who are all in management positions, also treat us as sexual playthings. Although I am a strong woman who is more than comfortable with her body and her sexuality, I can get caught up in this dynamic as well. Sometimes it is fun to use my sexuality and my body to get things. Unfortunately, there is no literal line present to know when it has been crossed, and for each individual this line is different. I can only be vocal about what I feel comfortable with and let men know when they have crossed my line. As far as my future goes, I would like to get out of this restaurant business and am pursuing a career in social work. I know that even though my environment might change, sexual harassment will still be present. Speaking up for yourself and setting boundaries is the best thing a woman can do.