Originally Posted By Moondoggie I'm sort of old school, but is there anyone else who thinks that some of the gender casting/costuming is a little out of place at the park in some areas? I still tend to have a bit of an issue seeing CMs in costume outside the park. IMO, it sort of takes the magic outside the berm, and I always thought that it was neat not seeing that magic until you entered the gates. But that's a done deal, I guess. No going back on that one. Seeing women on the Steam Trains though, e.g., has taken some getting used to as it really doesn't work historically. And when I worked Fantasyland Attractions, guys worked Skyway, gals worked Storybook. No one made much the issue of it. Main St./Parking Lot largely had women in the Walt Disney Story/Lincoln with guys on the trains and vehicles. I think it worked. It just seems a little off, historically, to see that. I know we live in different times and equality is important, but I don't think the way things used to be was terribly out of line. Am I the only one?
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance Well, given that discriminating against anyone based on gender is illegal, I don't think they have too much of a choice in the matter, do they?
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance And it doesn't bother me in the slightest seeing guys and girls in all of the roles.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Me either CC in fact i have never given a thought about who was working where. I just go to DL to have a good time and as long as the CM does a good job i could care less.
Originally Posted By TherealTDASuit It hasn't gone far enough for me! I want to see women cleaning the men's room!!! LMAO.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance Yes, men clean women's restrooms and vice versa, I've had guys ask me on my way out of the bathroom if any other people are in there, so they could put up a closed sign and start cleaning.
Originally Posted By egoett Personally it bugs me when CM's have to make up cutesy excuses for why Jose says, "Buenos Dias Senorita". Why not just have a "Senorita" tap on his perch?
Originally Posted By tashajilek I was going to apply at DL, but i dont think they have butter churning? i wouldnt be able to handle a mans job lol.
Originally Posted By TherealTDASuit Ummm....I was joking. Men clean the men's rooms. Women clean the women's rooms. And rest rooms don't get closed for cleaning unless there is a significant safety issue.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance I wasn't talking about DL in particular. Some places do close the bathrooms for cleaning.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x like Walmart...always when my daughter has to go "RIGHT NOW!"
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 It doesn't bother me either to see a mix of men and women in all of the positions. I am also not sure how women running Storybook Canal is more historically accurate...if you were strictly going for historical accuracy there would be no women working in any of the positions on Main Street, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, Adventureland, or Fantasyland because the during the time periods represented on those lands women did not really work outside of the home much, if at all. From a legal standpoint it might be a bit hard for Disneyland to staff their lands based on historical accuracies.
Originally Posted By TP2000 It's not Colonial Williamsburg, it's a theme park. It's also not 1962 any more, it's 2010. I think they even let women vote in federal elections now, don't they?
Originally Posted By hbquikcomjamesl No, DL is not Colonial Williamsburg, much less Plimoth Plantation (where the costumed colonists don't break character for anything less than immediate danger to life or limb). It's a theme park, not a living history facility. As to Storybook Land, although I don't see anything awkward about male CMs in a traditionally female role, I have always noticed a certain potential for bad-show smart-(equus asinius) remarks if a CM of African, Asian, or other non-European ancestry is assigned to the "Snow White." As to the DLRR, I remember reading an article in Trains Magazine on the history of women in railroading, and being rather surprised at just how far back that history goes. As to the Tiki Room, surely by now the show is on something other than tape, and there's SOMEBODY alive who can do Jose well enough to patch in "Senor" for use if the CM initiating the show is male. As to cleaning restrooms across gender lines, well, back when I had a part-time job at an ice rink, if I had to check the Ladies' Room, the usual procedure was to holler "Yo! Anybody in there?" before entering, then go in, and get it over with quickly. Routine cleaning was generally done between public sessions.
Originally Posted By Pal of Minnie ..."if you were strictly going for historical accuracy there would be no women working in any of the positions on Main Street..." No, that is not so- in the early 1900's (which is the time period that MS represents) one of the jobs that women held during that time period was that of a sales clerk.
Originally Posted By Moondoggie And yet the funny thing is if you asked a woman if she felt discriminated against because she didn't work shifts on Skyway back then, or if you asked a guy if he felt discriminated against because he didn't work Book, they said no. Because they understood the casting behind it all. And yes, for the record, there was such a thing called discrimination back then. CMs at the park wouldn't have considered it that way though because we understood casting. As to the poster who commented about butter churning and men's jobs....try working a 40 hour summer schedule on Skyway, tossing heavy cabins, one right after the next, on a hot summer day. Come back and let us know how it went. There was a reason Skyway was cast the way it was. Simply stated the park is a show. CMs are a part of that show taking on a certain role. And since I have yet to see them cast a man as Maria von Trapp in the next revival of "The Sound of Music," or a woman as the Captain, I, likewise, don't think it's out of order for the park to respect gender roles as part of its show either. For me, seeing women dressed up in suits and working Trains and Main St. Vehicles seems out of place.
Originally Posted By Moondoggie And yet the funny thing is if you asked a woman if she felt discriminated against because she didn't work shifts on Skyway back then, or if you asked a guy if he felt discriminated against because he didn't work Book, they said no. Because they understood the casting behind it all. And yes, for the record, there was such a thing called discrimination back then. CMs at the park wouldn't have considered it that way though because we understood casting. As to the poster who commented about butter churning and men's jobs....try working a 40 hour summer schedule on Skyway, tossing heavy cabins, one right after the next, on a hot summer day. Come back and let us know how it went. There was a reason Skyway was cast the way it was. Simply stated the park is a show. CMs are a part of that show taking on a certain role. And since I have yet to see them cast a man as Maria von Trapp in the next revival of "The Sound of Music," or a woman as the Captain, I, likewise, don't think it's out of order for the park to respect gender roles as part of its show either. For me, seeing women dressed up in suits and working Trains and Main St. Vehicles seems out of place.
