To ask whether you judge someone based on their occupation?

[lushilaoshi]

I am sometimes judged (I think) a bit harshly based on my occupation. It can be a bit of a conversation killer, sometimes.

So without revealing yet what I actually do, if I were to say (for instance) that I am a City lawyer, what assumptions would you make about me? Would you take an instant dislike? Versus if I were to tell you that I am, for example, a languages teacher?

I think I can predict some answers, but I am curious about what characteristics are attributed to certain occupations, and whether justified. And in particular, whether gender makes any difference to your judgement?

carabos I don't think HG's father was dissing HG, he described him as a world famous actor. It was the man he was talking to who was not interested in the actor son. But what DOES your DH do? .

My friend met a woman at her nct class who was very reluctant to tell everyone what she did, just avoided the subject at all costs. When she eventually fessed up to being a paediatrician apparently 10 heads went up like meer cats- wide eyed and thrilled at having her at their disposal!!

I'm a SAHM. No one's bothered. Can't blame them it's hardly rocket science. Dp is a scientist so sort of rocket science but no one's interested in that either. He sometimes gets asked when he'll cure cancer. Our neighbour didn't see how he could be a doctor (PhD) and not wear a suit to work !

When I was late teens/early 20's I was a receptionist but I was also a lap-dancer, then I left dancing and worked in a swingers club on the bar (nothing shocks me, oh the stories I can tell!)

I'm now an executive assistant and events organiser at a business consultancy firm (and I was doing my LLB but I was struggling with working full time and being a single parent so that's on hold) people judge me depending on which side of my life I talk about

I don't judge. But then, I am a lawyer

My god, even my proud dad, God rest his soul, once picked up a paper with a headline about some bastard solicitor diddling an old lady out of her life savings, and said 'bloody lawyers'!! Drives me mad!

I couldn't care less what anyone does, unless it's morally reprehensible I suppose.

Oh, and to the people who think all lawyers are clever, I am absolutely as thick as pudding at most maths. I'm shit hot at mental arithmetic, but I sometimes struggle reading balance sheets and understanding accounts and the like. There you go.

I work on a women's magazine and find that people either assume it's highly glamorous (no) or that it's incredibly easy and staffed by a bunch of ditsy bitches who only care about designer handbags (also untrue).

I am a social worker. Previous post RE us judging others' parenting / Daily Mail nonsense about the job - I am paranoid this is how most people see me! Thanks

Ooh, TTWK, you've just reminded me about a woman I met at a party once. She had been a GP - a proper one, trained in medical school and so on - and had quit that to pursue a career in alternative medicine. I don't remember what the proper name for it was, but from her description, it involved having an e-mail consultation with a client (definitely not face to face or telephone, she confirmed when I asked), and then she used a crystal, which she dangled over a piece of paper with a list of health conditions. The crystal indicated what was wrong with the client, and then the ex-GP e-mailed back the crystal's diagnosis.

Shocking! Stupid woman should be made to reimburse the state the full cost of her med school training.

I am a scientist. Mostly I describe my job as 'discovering new cancer drugs' which makes it sound far more glamorous than it actually is! Although I do actually discover drugs......
But there are a few people who assume I must experiment on animals , I try to avoid lengthy discussions about this!

I hope I don't judge.
Would have a problem with professional assassin, I think, but don't think I've ever met one, not that they would be likely to tell me.....
I am a nurse: I am not not interested in your haemorrhoids at a social event, but I will be polite and listen sympathetically and sign post you to the right place to meet your needs, and if you taken ill or have an accident at said social event, I will try to help.
And I am totally p*ssed off with people slagging my profession off at every given opportunity. I'm sorry if you've had a bad experience, but it wasn't my fault. Mostly we're doing our best in increasingly difficult circumstances.

When a student nurse, many years ago, it was assumed we were either nymphomaniacs or trainee saints. Most of us were neither. There were a few exceptions....

I have to admit actually that I'm pretty judgey of politicians...

My experience of lawyers is that they are mostly clever and interesting, but the twatty ones are really really twatty.

Anyway, I avoid asking people what they do so the whole judgment by job doesn't arise.

In the past when I was younger and sillier, and people could choose jobs easier I used to judge but not nearly as much these days, when many people do whatever they can to make ends meet and are not necessarily in jobs they love. What I have discovered over the years is that not all barristers are money orientated, not all police officers are paragons of virtue, and not everyone in a caring career cares, so I prefer to treat people as individuals rather than pigeon hole them based on their job.

I work in the sex industry (escort) and tend to keep pretty tight lipped about it for obvious reasons, but when I have told people I'm usually met by complete disbelief. Apparently I "don't look like an escort!", which irritates me because sex workers come in all shapes, sizes, ages, races, and backgrounds. Just because I'm naice does not mean I can't be a sex worker. Some of the many assumptions made about my job have been...

I must earn shit loads of money...nope. My hourly rate may be high but my annual income is fairly low. But I'd far rather do what I do than slave away in a poorly paid job lining someone else's pockets. Having free time means I've been able to do lots of voluntary work and go back to education.

I don't pay tax...WTF am I paying my pretty cool accountant for then?! I really hate that one; it's so insulting because it's inferring I don't contribute financially to society.

I have a pimp...no, and never have. I've always been self-employed and completely independent.

I take drugs...no. I like wine but I don't even drink much of that (definitely under the government's guidelines).

I've suffered abuse...no. Not in my childhood, not now, or at work. In fact my clients over the many years have been very respectful and well behaved not that I'd take any shit anyway

I must have a high sex drive...no. I like sex when I'm doing it(and can easily separate love from sex) but I'm rather meh about it most of the time. Take it or leave it and don't think about it that much.

My previous job was technical and specialised, and my next one (when I graduate) will be in health care. Not sure where I'd be placed in people's perceptions with that combination.

"people judge me depending on which side of my life I talk about"
Same here Dogsarebetter. My story depends on my mood and the company I'm in.

"My experience of lawyers is that they are mostly clever and interesting, but the twatty ones are really really twatty."

Second that!!

I wouldn't say judgey exactly but find I have very little in common with people who work to earn the maximum amount of money possible (so City traders, bankers, hedge fund types and yes even lawyers). I just avoid such people, I find wealth accumulation and materialism and the bragging (overt or otherwise) that goes with it unbearably dull.

Shhh that is interesting.

My initial reaction would not be to judge you though, but to be concerned for you. There was an absolutely brilliant (and harrowing) piece on the BBC today by a former sex worker (www.bbc.com/news/magazine-33113238), and she thinks that if a sex worker has not been abused so far in her career, then it's only a matter of time. On the other hand, she also says that each woman's experience is totally different and you can't lump them all into a single category.

How long have you been doing it?

JessieMcJessie, yep I was one of those ambulance chasing claimant lawyers you mention. What chance did I stand of not being judged by the general public if my professional colleagues like you are judging away from your high horses.

I get a lot of jaw-hitting-the-floor responses when people find out my job.

A girl? Fixing electrics? In vehicles? No way?

Yes!

I think that having a job is far better than being a scrounger!

I think some of the 'worst' jobs are grossly underpaid and undervalued. Nurses. Carers, teachers all do a fantastic job, often in rubbish conditions.

As long as your job wasn't hurting other people or animals, I see no reason to judge.

A lawyer will have to be well educated and articulate.
A teacher should be the same ( although some of the ones ds has had in the past make me wonder sometimes...)

Shhh, not a job I'd choose for my own daughter (if I had one) but at least it's honest work and a million miles above diagnosing illnesses by email using fucking crystals.

I'm a SAHM. There's a conversation stopper!

I used to be a teacher. Teaching is also one of those jobs which, if done well, looks effortless on the surface yet there is a whole lot of frantic paddling going on behind the scenes. The problem with being a teacher is everyone has sat in a classroom at some time in their life. People judge you because it looks so easy. It's even worse if, like me, you are a maths teacher. Few people have really positive memories of maths at school.

Now days I work in the technology enhanced learning field. I usually tell people I work in IT because even people who work in IT themselves rarely grasp what it is I actually do. To this end I have trained DD to tell people that her mum managed feck off great big IT systems in a world famous university

The only profession I do judge is academics. While many of them are lovely people (especially the female ones) they have a deserved reputation for being a tad egotistical on occasions.

To compartmentalise is pretty normal, to actively look down on people for their job is just plain rude.
I'm a nurse, most people view me favourably, but some think I'm trying to get me a rich doctor husband or that all I'm good for is a bed bath and simpering conversation.

rockybalboa just to be clear, I do not think that all claimant lawyers are ambulance chasers. I define an ambulance chaser as a lawyer who encourages people who do not need or want to sue to bring claims on a conditional fee basis so that the lawyer can get an uplift if they win. There is of course an important place for lawyers who fight to obtain justly-deserved compensation for clients who badly need it. However you self-define as an ambulance chaser so I am not sure why you feel slighted?

I sometimes feel apologetic for some reason when I tell people what I do. Because the British media always love to tell a bad news story and make us look like we're the villains. But sod it, when you've been raped or glassed down the town centre on a Saturday night, I'll still be here to help anyway.

I'm a police detective. People either don't know what to say to me, or decide that now would be a good time to seek advice about a neighbours loud music or a groups of school kids smoking down the street .

I used to be cabin crew for a long haul airline. "You're just a glorified waitress!" They used to say. Well that might be partly true, but during my time there I worked alongside ex doctors, city traders, lawyers, loads of people with degrees......the assumption was that we were all airheads or floozies! When actual fact for many people it was a way of escaping the dreary drudge of every day life and doing something a little bit different. Money or status isn't everything.

lushilaoshi. Thanks for linking that article. Pimped street workers from bad backgrounds are just one part of the sex industry and thankfully worlds apart from my experiences and the experiences of the WGs I know.

I've beed an escort 15 years and a MN poster under different names for 5, and I've had more abuse on here than I've ever had in real life (and I've had no abuse from clients), LOL. Regarding safety, there are those who put money above safety and those who put safety over money; I'm the latter, so if I don't feel happy about meeting a man I won't. I have security measures in place too.

LOL @ LotusLight, I love that Harry Enfield sketch. I've met a barrister like that and he actualy said "I'm a very important man". He really was so full of his own self-importance, the wanker.

"I joke that we have the best educated unemployed in the world and also some of the most talented."
I have a little fantasy that all these people would get together and form a brilliant company from a combination of their talents. No idea what sort of company however.