Intimidating? Me? Really??!?

I have a career in a male dominated field, both on the labor end of the industry as well as the professional end. So I spose that it takes a strong and confident woman to hold her own amongst all of the 'good old boys', alot of whom, unfortunately, believe it should stay the domain of men. I have had to prove myself, again and again, which I obviously have done as evidenced by the fact that

A) I am still here.

B) I have experienced more than a few male collegues change their attitudes towards me as they have realized that I know what I am doing and I am here to stay.

C) I have been told personally by other companies that I deal with on a regular basis that they appreciate what I do and that they enjoy working with me.

So I know and acknowledge that I am CAPABLE of surviving in this position, but I guess I have never realized or thought that I could actually be INTIMIDATING (I am fully aware of the fact that I can be a BITCH sometimes, but that is not the same IMO, as being intimidating). So the other day when a co-worker in my office told me just that, that "you ARE a bit intimidating, you know" I thought to myself "No, I guess I DON'T know that".

I mean, I realized I was intimidating to the old VP (who is now retired, thank goddess) because I was a YOUNG woman in a 'man's' world who very much had an opinion and was not afraid to express it, which he didn't like at all...He truely was one of the 'good old boys' who thought women should be seen and not heard, and I REALLY believe the only reason he hired me was because they had been looking to fill the position for QUITE some time and I was the only one who had applied. I believe to the bottom of my heart that had there been a man applying for the job as well, even a COMPLETELY unqualified man, that I would not be here today.

And I guess there are a few other good old boys that don't like me, and it MUST be that they are intimidated by a woman who can function comfortably among them as I cannot think of any other reason that they would not like me. (As I re-read this, I found this to come off as arrogant...They could possibly just not like me because they don't like me as a person, I know there are un-likable things about me, but I meant to convey that I cannot think of anything I have done in a professional sense working with them that would give them cause to not like me. I have never been disrespectful to them, or screwed up a project we worked on together, etc etc. I have probably been a bit defensive off the bat with a couple of them, as I immediately get the vibes from them that I cannot know what I am doing since I am a woman, which rightfully irritates me...)

But other than that, I don't FEEL intimidating!! Often times, I feel like the one being intimidatED! It may not show, but it is true! I often have to remind myself that I am strong and smart and FULLY CAPABLE and worthy and VALUABLE. There are a few people I work with on a regular basis that would come to mind with the word intimidating, and I don't feel comparable to those people in that aspect at all!

The more I think about it, the more I can think of times that people have expressed this to me, but it is one of those things that are really hard to believe about ourselves...

The fact of the matter is that it comes back to being able to not only recognize but ACKNOWLEDGE and utilize my strengths to their fullest potential; have faith in myself and what I can accomplish.

I am woman, hear me roar ;0)