She-Ra

I had just started working the road alone, after accepting the position as animal control officer and going through several weeks of training. I pulled up to a house in East Grand Rapids where a woman had reported a stray dog in her yard. I got out of my animal control vehicle, a large cargo van equipped with multiple kennels in the back and met the woman on her front steps. I asked if the dog was still around, and she pointed in the direction it left. Her next remark caught me off guard and I wasn’t sure how to respond.

“Oh honey, how long have you been doing this? You are too cute to do this job”

Most people assume that working in the animal control field has you snuggling fuzzy creatures, performing heroic rescues and saving litters of puppies every day. Unfortunately, the majority of my day is spent dealing with humans and endless complaints and reports. My work is not much different than that of a police officer, and often we deal with the same ‘clientele’.

Just like police officers we wear uniforms, a duty belt (yes, I rode the lightning to be able to carry my taser) and vests. We arrive in marked vehicles and deal with people who are never happy to see us.

As a female standing 5’2″, I am constantly in a position of having to prove my authority. I do not command the same automatic respect that my 6’2″ police officer husband does when he steps out of his cruiser.

When this woman in East GR said that to me, I wish I could have shown her the large, aggressive dog I handled earlier, the dirty porches I have crawled under and the hoarding houses I have entered. Why would I need to look different to be able to do this job? She probably didn’t mean to offend but I was pissed that she labeled me as some weak female whom she didn’t think could do this job properly based on my appearance. I just smiled and left to find the dog.

While I have to work twice as hard to get respect from the public, being a smaller female does have its advantages when I deal with an animal. So many times I have arrived on scene where a male coworker is trying to coax a scared or aggressive dog and the animal immediately responds favorably towards me instead and I can secure it. I am less intimidating to an animal than the large and imposing male presence of my coworker. However, I may need this male coworker to accompany me to the home of a volatile person later where his intimidating presence will work in my favor.

Women working in fields of law enforcement, or any position of authority, is nothing new these days. I am fortunate to know many bad ass females and know we are plenty capable of getting the job done. I am personally not in a position where I have to physically subdue someone or arrest them. I am ok with that. I know my limits. But women like me have to work twice as hard to be heard and taken seriously than our male counterparts. That’s just how human society is set up and how we are viewed, no matter our size or age.

As a woman, if I speak my mind, I am opinionated. If I raise my voice, I am hysterical. If I am persistent, I am aggressive. If I demand respect, I am a bitch.

I have been called all sorts of names over the years in this career. None of that bothers me much as I know it is spoken out of anger or frustration by a person that deep down knows I am right. In the end I will still get done what needs to get done. If I hand someone a citation and they scream at me and tear up the paper, I simply walk on knowing that the citation stands no matter how they feel about it. I don’t take it personally.

I haven’t always been this self-assured. When my family moved to the United States in the mid 90’s I knew only a few words of English. I had a really tough time understanding people speaking to me in the fast-paced American accent that is now my own. I was quiet because I couldn’t communicate. I was labeled the ‘Quiet Wonder’ in some strange 6th grade class contest. Only when I started working at the veterinary clinic in college did I find my confidence and my voice. I knew stuff about animals, so I could talk to people confidently about the topic and learned how to overcome public shyness. Back then I could have never imagined myself in the position of authority that is now my every day.

She-Ra may be a fictional character, but so many strong women in this world exude her power and confidence in real everyday life. I count myself among them and am fortunate to know so many more.