7 Books About Women Doing Dirty Jobs

When I went connected submission with what would go Wildfire Days, a memoir of my clip warring wildfires successful California, a connection I received much than erstwhile was: “Sorry, books astir women successful ‘military-like’ professions conscionable don’t sell. People don’t privation to work astir that.” The accusation seemed to beryllium that women’s books should enactment much “girlish” to person wide appeal. I americium determined to beryllium that stories astir women doing the astir technical, filthy, physically arduous, dangerous, and male-dominated jobs are precisely what we should beryllium reading. In a clip of backsliding progressive policy, erstwhile Roe v. Wade has been repealed and women’s rights and bodies are nether attack, it’s much urgent than ever to uplift stories astir pistillate diverseness and strength. 

Perhaps readers and literate gatekeepers fearfulness specified stories volition go small much than a litany of woes, the feral moan of the oppressed woman-among-monsters. To beryllium sure, a fig of the books connected this database item harassment, exclusion, and adjacent rape. It’s captious that these stories beryllium shared and discussed, due to the fact that women (and nonbinary and trans people) proceed to beryllium subjected to misogyny and mistreatment successful many, if not most, male-dominated spaces.

But the acheronian broadside of these professions isn’t the full story. These are books astir women uncovering joy, coming into their prowess, and discovering their spot successful the satellite done the toughest jobs. In hard labor, they reclaim their carnal selves and find satisfaction, camaraderie, and belonging—even wrong antheral dominated groups. Often, the protagonists besides grapple with a changing satellite arsenic planetary warming, economical instability, and ever-widening inequities marque low-paying, weather-dependent jobs progressively precarious.

These women’s stories, then, are beautifully complex. They’re astir ladies who enactment hard successful mysterious, misunderstood industries. They endure and conflict and can’t find anyplace to pee. Sometimes they’re victimized. And yet, successful each of these stories, the women turn stronger than they ever imagined. Their books are astir uncovering strength, resilience, joy, belonging, and truthful overmuch much successful the grittiest, astir “masculine” workplaces. 

Thick Skin: Field Notes from a Sister successful the Brotherhood by Hilary Peach

I person to admit straightaway that, earlier speechmaking Thick Skin, I didn’t cognize precisely what a boilermaker was, but I knew it sounded pugnacious arsenic hell. A boilermaker is simply a construction welder, which, arsenic Peach’s publication humbly demonstrates, is an wholly badass and alternatively terrifying occupation (picture being lowered successful a handbasket with a crane to weld a sheet onto the broadside of a monolithic cruise ship). In this memoir of episodic stories, Peach tracks her galore assignments and the progression of her skills arsenic a welder successful Canada—where she was based—and connected duty successful the U.S. While misogyny is rampant successful the male-dominated tract of boilermaking, Peach’s attack is even-handed: she shows villains who archer her to “go home” alongside lovable mentors, allowing her antheral colleagues to beryllium arsenic quality arsenic herself. Peach, besides a poet, writes beautifully (and humorously too!). I emotion this 1 and it deserves much attraction than it has frankincense acold received.

Hotshot: A Life connected Fire by River Selby

This is the communicative of Selby’s years arsenic a wildland firefighter connected elite hotshot crews passim the American West. While Selby present identifies arsenic nonbinary, they identified arsenic a pistillate and were treated arsenic specified during their clip firefighting, suffering discrimination, intersexual harassment, and outright bullying (trigger warnings abound, but it’s important that writers similar Selby archer their stories successful full). This is acold much than a communicative of pistillate conflict against adversity; Selby besides weaves successful a deeply-researched relationship of occurrence history, indigenous ecological knowledge, onshore absorption and beautiful, affecting scenes that travel their narration with a cruel, unstable mother. The operation of firefighting action, idiosyncratic memoir, and affluent technological discourse makes this a almighty read.

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love by Kristin Kimball

This is the communicative of a pistillate who leaves her quintessential Manhattan writer’s beingness (Lower East Side apartment, heels, and astatine slightest 4 casual non-boyfriends) to commencement a workplace with a antheral she’s fallen successful emotion with. This publication diverges from the others successful that Kimball didn’t precisely participate a male-dominated profession; rather, she entered a partnership. But successful each different way, Kimball and her beau look the combat of their lives, trying to provender not conscionable themselves but a assemblage of 100 people–members of a subscription programme who prime up play farm-share boxes year-round. Struggles abound, from endless labour to blizzards to rat infestations. Food itself plays a cardinal role, and Kimball’s descriptions of her meals made my rima water. The penning is deft and lovely, not a connection retired of place. I couldn’t enactment this 1 down.

Welcome to the Goddamn Ice Cube: Chasing Fear and Finding Home successful the Great White North by Blair Braverman

I had heard of Braverman successful the ambient mode that anyone into outdoor escapade volition cognize astir the token “women successful the wild” books. I was prompted to drawback a transcript due to the fact that I loved Braverman’s societal media presence, successful which she chronicles the antics of her sled dogs. The book’s code is different, little playful, the communicative dependable sometimes arsenic terrible arsenic the landscapes she inhabits. Braverman returns to Norway—where she studied overseas arsenic a teenager—to tally sled dogs and hunt for herself, “trying to reply backstage questions astir unit and belonging and cold.” Her communicative is afloat of danger, action, dogs, and ice, but it’s chiefly a communicative astir the vulnerability of surviving successful a pistillate body, being perpetually scrutinized and threatened by men, and surviving successful mostly-male communities. Braverman’s existent conflict is to consciousness harmless successful her ain skin.

Shoot Like a Girl: One Woman’s Dramatic Fight successful Afghanistan and connected the Home Front by Mary Jennings Hegar

“Many don’t deliberation that determination are women serving successful combat roles. Others deliberation that the women who bash service successful combat shrink successful fearfulness erstwhile the bullets fly. I cognize differently, and I wanted you to know, too.” Hegar could beryllium penning a manifesto connected behalf of each the women connected this list. Her memoir tracks heroism connected 2 fronts: first, arsenic an Air Force aviator who, contempt sustaining an wounded during a medevac mission, saves the lives of her patients and crew; second, arsenic an activistic successful the conflict to extremity a argumentation that excluded women from crushed combat. I emotion each the small moments I tin place with, similar erstwhile Hegar wonders however she’ll pee portion flying a helicopter, noting that the men astir her tin pee successful a vessel anytime. But much than that, I emotion that she puts a sanction to the invisibility of women successful male-dominated fields and the rampant underestimation of their strengths.

My Fishing Life: A Story of the Sea by Ashley Mullenger with Lynne Barrett-Lee

A memoir from 1 of the fewer pistillate commercialized “fishermen” successful the UK, this publication follows Mullenger’s conflict to larn the commercialized nether the tutelage of her benevolent skipper, Nigel. I knew sportfishing was filthy, smelly enactment due to the fact that I astir joined into an oyster farming family, but I hadn’t considered conscionable however unsafe the assemblage could be. Mullenger illustrates however a enactment of pots dragged disconnected the extremity of the vessel tin snag your ankle, propulsion you into the ocean, and drown you—not to notation weather, underwater hazards, and each the different ways the oversea tin instrumentality a life. Her communicative is afloat of action, adjuvant explication of the mechanics of the work, vivid landscapes (waterscapes?), and endearing characters. My chap Yanks whitethorn beryllium arsenic charmed arsenic I was by the Britishness of the prose, implicit with crab bait that’s “a spot whiffy” and a municipality named Wells-next-the-Sea. Color maine fascinated and inspired. I mean, sorry, colour.

Dirty Work: Essential Jobs and the Hidden Toll of Inequality successful America by Eyal Press

Press is our honorary antheral here; I decided I would let astir arsenic galore men connected this list, percentage-wise, arsenic determination are women connected the mean wildland firefighting crew. But with immoderate luck, we won’t marque Press consciousness tokenized. His publication is simply a smart, deeply-reported survey of “essential” jobs successful America, truthful galore of which autumn to women, radical of color, undocumented immigrants, and different marginalized groups. Press defines “dirty work” successful presumption of morally-ambiguous, underappreciated tasks similar carnal slaughter. The fiscal precarity and carnal toll of specified jobs tin permission scars seen and unseen, including PTSD and the invisible “moral injury” of having done something, retired of necessity, that doesn’t align with one’s ethics. 

The station 7 Books About Women Doing Dirty Jobs appeared archetypal connected Electric Literature.