Spare parts dealer, Paulina Adu, popularly known as ‘The Abossey-Okai Girl’, has shared how life as a female in a male-dominated workspace is for her.
Being the only lady among lots of men in the car spare parts dealership town of Abossey-Okai, she told eTV Ghana that people do not respect the women in the field.
She disclosed that, “If someone comes to the shop and there’s a man and a woman seated there, no matter how dirty the woman looks and how neat the man looks, they will greet the man first and tell him what they need, ignoring the woman.”
Meanwhile, the lady appearing stained with diesel and car fluids should make it obvious that she is a spare parts dealer.
The Abossey-Okai girl continued that: “The man would have to tell them that it is the woman who owns or is in charge of the shop before they will make an attempt to talk to her. They still don’t accept women there or expect them to be there so you need to act somewhat like a man so that you can blend in amongst them.”
She, however, clarified that acting like a man does not necessarily mean dressing like a man or talking like a man, but basically being bold or ‘hard’ like a man.
The Abossey-Okai Girl is a graduate of the University of Ghana, Legon, with a Degree and Master’s in Education.
Fortunately or unfortunately, due to the situation of lack of jobs in the country, she decided to go into spare parts dealership as her mother was already in the field and this job, thankfully, is taking her places today.
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