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actually, there's a pretty strong push to get women into AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) fields. http://www.new-nyc.org/pages/become.html http://www.pwcusa.org/ http://www.nawic.org/nawic/default.asp http://www.wcoeusa.org/

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But probably not to work as manual labor on construction sites...

There isn't a big push to get women onto construction sites because of cultural beliefs about what men and women do. This is harmful to both men and women. In this case, women are believed to be less physical able to keep up with the demands of manual labor on a construction site. Add in the fact that manual labor is often perceived as "lower class" and it makes a certain amount of sense those who are fighting for female equality would start with jobs in fields that carry social prestige. When you feel like you aren't getting enough of the cow/steak, why would you fight for the hooves? Stigma against "low class" jobs also needs to stop - these are very important tasks that we entrust people with.

I am sure that there are some women who might want to go into construction who are turned away by site managers who don't believe a women can perform as well or that they will be a "distraction" on male-dominated worksites. I am sure that a few more might have been turned away by a few bigots who aggressively treat them as though they don't belong on site.

[edits below] Just wanted to add that it is also easier to fight a fight based on the idea that women are just as smart as men, but relatively harder to fight the fight that women are just as strong as men. Even if many women are stronger than many men, in aggregate men do have the biological advantage with regards to strength.

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