If you’re wanting a career in cosmetology you’re going to have to find ways to get along with a variety of people who may or may not like you. Of course that is true in any career, but let’s face it… cosmetology is a female dominated industry and women are far cattier than men. Also, your clients will chit chat and ask you questions that you may or may not want to answer honestly. Of course some things are none of their business, but telling them so isn’t going to make you much money.
To quit because you’ve experienced some hostility for less than a week?
I’m with this. It’s always nice to rub their faces in it. “Look. I’ve succeeded. And some of your intolerant cohorts have been fired/relocated/redistributed. I dealt with your crap and now I’m in a better place than you.” That way, when they walk past your corner office every day, you’ll remind them of how you succeeded and they failed.
But if there’s no way that’s happening, there’s no point in making yourself miserable about it. Find something else.
The hostility surrounding my atheism lasted less than a week. The mild bullying, class disruptions, and bad administration have gone on much longer than that. This is just the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I’m going to have to develop a better strategy for those questions, yes.
I’m willing to deal with a certain amount of cattiness to work and earn money. I’m willing to deal with a certain amount of cattiness to continue at a great school. I’m NOT willing to deal with cattiness to go to a not-so-good school that I’m paying to attend. Even if I were earning money at this school, I would still consider leaving because the behavior there is out of control, as the higher ups have established that there are essentially no consequences for disrupting class and getting into fights in the middle of the clinic floor.
I find that groups of women are not necessarily “catty.” Sometimes the opposite is true, and they won’t accept negative statements about anyone or anything, no matter how true they are.
However, female co-workers almost always want to know more about your personal life than male colleagues would. In a female-dominated industry, you will have to learn to defend your boundaries with a smile concerning anything you do not want to be public. It can be really hard at first. Best of luck!