It's a fine line...

I have noticed something at work. And so have other female associates.  Most of the partners are male and it seems that they single out the male associates.  Not that they don't talk to us. Or give us work. Or invest time and interest in our career. It's just, we aren't men.

I think that male supervisors/partners/higher-ups see themselves in male employees in a way that they will never see themselves in their female employees. I have been told that I remind people of daughters, and sisters. But never themselves.  Which in all honesty makes sense. I am not a man! But it does cause me to walk a fine line.  The line that exists between being a woman and being enough like a man to make a man comfortable.  I almost feel that I need to be gender neutral.  I am again seriously considering a voice coach to help me sound more authoritative.  It is something I have to always keep in mind; I am really really feminine. But it is necessary.  The work world is very gender sensitive.  And gender roles can make it difficult to form the relationships based on equality that are necessary for one's career.