SMART, SEXY & BADASS – WOMEN IN MALE-DOMINATED ROLES

Long gone is the era where dishpans and dusting cloths were the focal point of a woman’s day. The period of ‘Susie Homemaker’ groomed to be a good cook and mother, keep a clean house and be a willing bed mate, is long behind us. Women have broken the ‘June Cleaver’ stereotypical mould, gladly trading in their sauce pans for brief cases.

In the millennium, all the old rules have basically been chucked out the window in favour of independent thinking. Careers that previously were soaked solely in testosterone now have a hint of perfume as women are no longer just arm candy. The good old boys’ club has had to make room, albeit at times grudgingly, to give females their due.

Buzzz Magazine gathered a female quintet whose jobs/hobbies have traditionally been seen as ‘rough’, ‘unbecoming’ or ‘dangerous’. By the simple mastery of their skill, they have not only made the snickers stop, but have earned their stripes, not because they produce oestrogen, but because they produce results.

Gina Lazarus – Pilot

When a teenaged girl gets her pilot license before her driver’s license, then you know she’s serious about her future profession. For Gina Lazarus, flying is as natural to her as breathing, and she is at home in the cockpit as she is on the ground. “My dad is a pilot and I was told that as early as age 3, I was standing up in the seat flying the plane, while he was holding me up. I was basically born to be a pilot.”

A close encounter with a Boeing 747 cemented this in her mind when she was only 17 and in Miami airport, where the huge aircraft flew so low over her head that the sensation left her with goose bumps.  “I looked at my dad and just said, ‘Dad, I’m ready.’”

Paula Ann Porter-Jones – Biker

You may know her as the sultry voice of morning radio, but did you know that Paula Ann Porter-Jones is also a ‘biker chick’? Her need for a challenge became a pleasure that is now very much a part of her DNA, and when not on the air, she is somewhere on a road less travelled, riding in the hills.

Her fascination with bikes is life-long, but it was not until a few years ago that she got to indulge in her fantasy. “I’ve been fascinated for years; I’ve always been curious as to how to make it go. They just looked hot.”

Natasha Chang – race car driver

As a child she was given a Barbie set that came with its own jeep. She quickly ditched the prissy Barbie and spent all her time playing with the jeep. That was an early indication that this female’s interest was in cars and how to make them go fast.

For Natasha Chang, her love affair with cars began in childhood as it was what she grew up around. “My grandfather was big into classic cars so I grew up in that and it caught on. Plus I was a tomboy and my circle of friends was really into drag racing so I caught the bug too.”

Grace Ashley – Engineer

Being a self-professed bundle of nervous energy meant that medicine, which requires steady hands, was out. Not that she minded much, as from high school, Grace was more into finding out how things worked. “I like to pull down and fix up things.”

Awarded a scholarship to study electrical engineering, she was excited, since it was in Trinidad and seemed hands-on and fun. However, upon her return home, with qualification in a field that was seen as male territory, no one wanted to touch her with a long pole. “In the early days there were no women in engineering, so when I got home I couldn’t get a job. The most I could get were holiday jobs.”

 
Kelly Tomblin – President and CEO

Less than a year on the job, and while it has not been easy, Kelly Tomblin is used to challenges, and being the President and CEO of Jamaica Public Service (JPS) comes with more than its fair share; but she is meeting each hurdle head-on as she has done all her life.

This native of Kentucky, USA, who was born on an army base, has never shirked from hard work, and in her early working years she worked in both coal mining and sewage, so dealing with unpleasant things is not something that she has ever shied away from. “I’ve been around all types of businesses and I’m very comfortable in a male-dominated world.”