Lily Thompson laughs when she hears that women can’t handle themselves on a construction site.
“That’s a societal thing as much as anything,” said Thompson, a journey-level carpenter with Local 336 of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. “If a mother can pick a sleeping child out of bed 2,500 times, there’s no reason she can’t pick up metal studs and shlep stuff around; 90% of this business is moving and fastening.”
Yet, the stereotypical messages persist. “You wouldn’t believe how many times kids are told, ‘that’s a boy thing,’ or ‘that’s a girlie thing,'” she went on, recalling the day her young daughter was helping her install a barn door, and a passerby took note of them and commented,”a lady with a saw – how unusual.”