Gender Observations @ CSL Plasma

I work as a full-time Reception Technician at CSL Plasma. CSL Plasma is a donating center where a person comes in to donate plasma, the essential clear substance in your blood that contains protein and nutrients to help treat diseases, and are compensated for their time. My duties include but are not limited to: answering phones, checking vital signs, perform secretarial duties such as data entry and making copies, as well as providing the best customer service I can. I see different kinds of people every single day. There are college students who come in as well as citizens of all ages within the city and neighboring suburbs, all with various personalities, moods, and attitudes. Our “clientele” is quite diverse as well. I would say that majority of our donors are either Black or White with another large sum of people who identify as Native American. Aside from the 40+ hours I spend there as a worker, I decided that it would be great to take a seat in the lobby and watch others closely interact with those around them.

I wanted to be at my job on a day and at a time where I knew it was busier so I could get the most observations possible. I decided to complete my observations on Friday around 11:00 am and parked my behind on a chair to begin my day of people watching. I started making a tally of how many people I witnessed either waiting in line for their vital check, sitting in the lobby waiting for their turn to donate. Some brought in a friend to wait with them as they donated, which gave me an additional opportunity to watch how they might interact with someone they’re more comfortable with. Right off the bat I noticed that many of the donors I’d seen, no matter the ethnicity, were males. I've always slightly thought that was possible. For my total time of 6 hours spent in the humid and unsanitary lobby area, I counted 245 people, 189 of which were males. I've had my own encounters with the males that made their way through the center. The limited of time spent conversing with them an in enclosed space sometimes involved inappropriate comments or phrases. They would refer to me as “beautiful,” “gorgeous,” or “sexy” and I would feel very uncomfortable. Seeing them outside of enclosed booth didn't matter at all because they called me the same names in front of everyone else to hear. I discovered that I am not the only one who gets complimented with such words. Plenty other females obtained pet names such as “baby” or “sweetheart” by the older men while waiting for turn to donate. As a woman would walk past with a slight twist of the hips, the male donors would turn their heads to watch as they left the room. I for one was thoroughly disgusted while watching the men do that. By the looks of the men that do come in, I would guess that many of them are lonely or lack confidence which ultimately results in them attempting to get with someone at the center. I would assume that they are vulnerable beings and my workplace is not the appropriate venue to pursue a relationship. In addition to the switching of the hips, a few of the black women who were present during my observation wore revealing shirts and pants that were low enough for men to see what color their underwear was. That could’ve been possibly why the males called them such names or wanted to give them sexual attention. Springer’s article stated that it’s the nasty Jezebels who give black people a bad name. Those women are the ones who prove to fit that stereotype. In all, I find there is a lack of respect between men and women at my workplace.

In regards to race, the black men seemed to be more straight forward and aggressive in their approach with women. They were the only ones making such remarks. In relation to gender, Hooks article states that, “In this book we have been concerned about helping men to take responsibility for immature forms of masculinity… it is clear that the world is overpopulated  with not only immature men but also tyrannical and abusive little girls pretending to be women…” After the denial of accepting a phone number, one of the women were then cursed. This showed how immature the man could be. In the case of ability, we have donors that are deemed “illiterate” and are required to listen to a CD player loaded with important information. At some point they skip a step to continue in the process with doesn't ever settle well with all other donors. Because of their disability, the others around them get angry and don’t understand that they have the same procedure but is done in a separate way. On the day of my observations, I saw two donors become irate because of our policy. In time they calmed down but they also did not fully grasp why exactly their procedure differed.

Overall, I thought it was great to sit down and watch the donors from a semi-alternate perspective. I am hoping to possibly continue this so I can help put an end to the disrespectful comments and attitudes brought into our positive environment.