The barriers to entry are being removed or have already been removed. There is a severe shortage of true tradesman(or tradeswomen). Here in BC, houses, condos and properties of all kinds are being slapped together by cheap builders and no-name companies who are all just trying to get a place up in 6 months, sell it fast, dissolve the company, and start over.

My inspector said it all: The old tradesmen of yore are a dying breed. What's happening to all the plumbers, professional carpenters, miners, woodsmen, machinists, sewage treatment workers, etc? We're not seeing enough young people step up to replace the roles of old boys.

With the shortage of needed and skilled tradespeople, the wages are going up to match the huge demand. So women, now's your chance to move into a different industry.

You're still gonna be surrounded by primarily male collegues, but seriously, it's a different dynamic today. Things are changing and sexual harrassment type stuff is being clamped down on, and hard.

You're gonna get your hands, face and body dirty from the work, but that's just what goes with the line of work.

It is what it is. Not drawing any comparisons to how women are seen and treated in Asian countries or other places. Keeping the focus on India.

Is it a cultural thing? Maybe yes, maybe no. Any Indian readers amongst us here?

I once read an article on one of the biggest reasons it takes anything to get done around India. Corruption is commonplace - for every dollar you give to the government towards a project, maybe only 1 penny is actually allocated to where it should be. You have to bribe your way around to get anything done, and if you don't, well...it's disrespectful.

My guess is that in order for anything to change, it will take some major cultural shifts and many more decades if not centuries to change. And given the slow pace of India, it's not coming any time soon.

Think about the employees (both male and female) who don't qualify for the extra time and/or allowances the company makes for the breast-feeding moms. The mom will be forgiven for needing the breaks here and there throughout the day, but that doesn't solve anything for the bitter others who feel that they shouldn't have to pick up the slack. Particularly the women who feel bitter that they chose not to have children, and they have to work the extra mile to compensate for someone who chose to.

But also this book does not work for the different workplaces who simply don't allow for, nor care, about if you need to breastfeed now, or ever. Those of you who have ever worked for a cheap Chinese boss know exactly what I'm talking about. Work is work, and that "thing" you're doing there - do it on your time, not the boss's time. It sounds ugly but that's the attitude.

But further - it also takes one woman to abuse the privileges and ruin it for everyone else. And I'm sure many of you know coworkers who are that way.

Why indulge in psycho-babble when the answer is crystal-clear:

The onlookers saw what was going on; but none of them wanted to get involved. Good or bad that's what happened.

You people make it all so complicated.

The guy's parties are for guys. Ditto for the women. What happens within the party, stays within each respective group. Period.

Now about this woman coming to the boy's party. She'll be treated like one of the boys. The men won't even see her as a woman, or they wouldn't feel comfortable with her being there. She'll be dressed in jeans and T-shirt like everyone else there, and act like a man. There's no threat. She'll just be one of the boys.

...and then telling me that global warming isn't a problem.