British Women Archaeologists new survey

[BAJR]

'regional franchise' route

its not a bad idea though.. and one that does gain currency given the nature of regional variations in archaeological topography. Know your area and know it well, know where to go and how to look, understand the site formations etc.. plus it gives a greater chance to form a life in an area.
Will it ever happen... ho hum.. probably not. However York Archaeological Trust kind of show how it works. and they still had room for the transient workforce.

I perhaps agree that the wider issue is for rights in general, however, the very nature of BWA was to deal with female issues which often don't apply to male employees. It is tricky to strike a balance, but many females do feel there is a need for this, so who am I (as a man) to say no you don't

[trowelfodder]

But which female issues in archaeologydon't affect males - we work together, given the nature of archaeology often live together and are often in relationships together? We none of us exist in a vacuum and how can you argue for inclusion by separating yourselves out? Surely we are beyond the "you wont understand cos your a man attitude"

[Dinosaur]

its not a bad idea though.. and one that does gain currency given the nature of regional variations in archaeological topography. Know your area and know it well, know where to go and how to look, understand the site formations etc.. plus it gives a greater chance to form a life in an area.
Will it ever happen... ho hum.. probably not. However York Archaeological Trust kind of show how it works. and they still had room for the transient workforce.

Wow, we agree on something! :face-approve:
Forgot to mention couple of pages back that the only single parent around here is male. He's had to modify his work load a bit to fit in around school hours/obliging child-minding relatives and learn CAD-from-home, but still has a full 40-hours-a-week job and still gets fitted in on the fieldwork roster whenever possible, he just gets first pick on the jobs close to where he lives. Bit of flexibility seems to solve most problems....:face-huh:

[diggingthedirt]

I think we had pretty much exactly the same comments last time the BWA got indiscriminately empirical on our assess. Here's a compare and contrast with SexyArchaeology's lovely ladies competition...

http://www.diggingthedirt.com/2009/10/21/sex/

I exchanged a bunch of long emails after I wrote this with one of the main BWA's, and although she wouldn't leave a comment for the site, we did find common ground of sorts, somewhere between Mars and Venus (is that Uranus?).

Good luck BWA's. I hope you get a bigger, and more representative sample group than last time round.

[BAJR]

well it was good to return to your old post on the blog... well worth it...

@dino I think there is much we would agre on.. I like to think of us as a family split by the Civil war and I am a staunch Roundhead

@trowelfodder you may be right in that the fight is for all of us... and if that is the case then the BWA will falter... but if not then they will grow. We can't ignore the treatment of women and the attitudes that prevail. though with that said I myself liked archaeology becuase of its less sexist attitude in general.. I say in general becuase there are time when women are often put to finds or worse seen as not able to shift the dirt..

the debate is neded

[Drunky]

'I say in general becuase there are time when women are often put to finds or worse seen as not able to shift the dirt.. '

That also works against men as i ve been on site where only women are offered the on site office jobs, meaning everyone still out on site doesn't get the oppertunity to get there foot in the door and get to know the office staff

I quite like finds and have paid for myself to go on pottery courses but haven't been allowed to have the oppertunity, as i've been told by men and women managers that they want me on site, i've found that it usually the slower diggers male or female that get put indoors .

It more an issue of how the finds/enviro jobs are seen, and the time limits put on the archaeologist to get off site

[trowelfodder]

Dont worry bajr im not sugguesting for one minute that it is acceptable for women to be treated badly - but a brilliant example of how others can become involved in what at first appear to be female only issues was when the tread was posted about poorly fitting PPE. There were a few jokey comments but when it was explained what the problem was then there was huge support from shock horror - MEN!

And having worked in shops and bars for years i find the general lack of sexism in archaeology quite refreshing - its not all a bed of roses but as a general rule it is a very female friendly environment to work in. On occassion it can be a little difficult - particularly with the tendancy some building companies have to plaster porn over walls in shared areas but this has changed loads over the last few years

[Dinosaur]

dino....I think there is much we would agre on.. I like to think of us as a family split by the Civil war and I am a staunch Roundhead...

Sorry, my lot had b*****ed off to America at that point to get rich, but later on they did manage to figure prominantly on both sides in the American version before coming back over here....not sure what that says...:face-topic:

[Gilraen]

"But which female issues in archaeology don't affect males - we work together, given the nature of archaeology often live together and are often in relationships together? We none of us exist in a vacuum and how can you argue for inclusion by separating yourselves out? Surely we are beyond the "you wont understand cos your a man attitude"

OK, well then unless all men are constipated during all digs which reqiuire toilet facilities or would you rather picture a woman changing a tampon behind a hedge?

No, seriously, picture it....

[trowelfodder]

I dont understand the piont you are trying to make - men obviously dont have periods but they still require toilet facilities on site?????