By Elin Signe Askvik
During my upbringing, no one talked about gender.
I recognise I am fortunate to have grown up in Norway, a country with relatively high equality standards and many opportunities. My parents focused on choices and effort. I don’t think it was conscious, it was just their way of living and working, being sailors and farmers. My sister and I had the same opportunities as my brother. We had the same chances to fail or to succeed. If we failed, my parents were clear that it was because we did not try or want it hard enough. That attitude shaped my life.
Therefore, I believed I could be anything I wanted. So, I became a sailor. That was what I wanted. And later in my life, as a natural progression, and thanks to leaders who judged me for my competence, I became Captain.
Incompetence comes in all forms and shapes, and so does competence. One can be useless regardless the gender, or one can be the best.
We should be hired because we get the job done, not to fulfil a statistic. If I get favoured for being a woman, that pisses me off just as much as being discriminated against because of it. I do not expect or accept any of it.
On that note, we must be careful to categorize all obstacles as a minority-related one. Sometimes obstacles are just that, obstacles. Regardless of what gender you are you will encounter obstacles. I like to think that we all have a similar number of problems, just perhaps different problems depending on who we are.
If they are gender-related, we, as minorities, are better off ignoring it. Instead, shake it off. Talk a little louder and push a little harder and do your best.
There are for sure people out there who may discriminate or challenge you based on characteristics unrelated to your skillset. We all meet them. They should be treated the same way regardless of whom they bully, with ignorance.
I navigated these matters for 20 years, and after these years I am quite unaware of the fact that I am a woman in a man’s world. I hope most of the men are equally ignorant to it. I do not expect or accept to be favoured because of it, and I do not expect or accept to be discriminated against.
Hence, I do not sign on as the female Captain, I sign on as the Captain. A part of the team on the same terms as any man on board because that is what I am. I believe you are whom you think yourself to be.
If we want a woman at sea to be ordinary, we clearly cannot at the same time act as if it is something extraordinary.
However, my experience has granted me access to many different cultures and countries. I recognise that in the world of 2021 we still need to have the topic on the agenda, to continue to make an effort to change the attitude for those who continue to be held back based on their race, religion or gender. We must never give up on the thought that everyone shall have the same chance to fail, and the same chance to succeed. That is equality.
The attitude in any community comes from the top. To change the attitude, we must ensure the right mindset of the managers. Captains, CEOs, crewing agents and evidently parents.
Being a woman at sea is tough sometimes, but it is not just because you are a woman, it is because sometimes it is tough to be at sea. It is not for everyone, but if you have a passion for the ocean, it is worth every struggle.
No man knows how to navigate the sea from birth, and no woman does either. We both need to be taught. We both should have that chance.