I can tell you this I have worked with some very good female meat cutters who i have alot of respect for. but I have also worked with some very bad females cutters who i do not have much professional respect for. however the same goes for the male meat cutters. I have worked with plenty of male cutters young and old who i was impressed with and worked with just as many young or OLD who i wanted out of the dept. I don't think age, or gender has anything to do with the quality of workmanship a cutter will put out.

Right now I have an older guy who cuts on my days off. he is my backup cutter. he works two days and I am very disappointed with his workmanship. I am literally depressed when i come back after my 2 days off and see what he did this time. now this is what really gets to me. people think he is my boss. customers will say where is the old guy he knows what he is doing. (uh no he doesn't). the guy likes to tell us he used to own his own market. I wonder why it didn't last. he is not a good cutter. (i am sorry if he happens to be a member here but ia m going to say it anyway). but people think he is because he is old and ia m younger. ia m 34 and he is 66 so therefore he knows what he is doing and i am the amatuer. I guess my point is even some of us men are feeling like some of you women do. we feel like we have to prove we know what we are doing because for some reason customers got it in their head that a cutter should be elderly and wise looking. I am sure that is true in most cases but from my experience alot of those old and wise looking male cutters are complete idiots,  but don't get me wrong some of them are the best cutters i ever worked with

I think in a way i feel your pain. I think until i fill out more and i have some gray hairs showing I am not going to be taken very seriously by some customers.

It took me a few years to be accepted by the men, after they found out I would work and not let them have to carry me, it was cool. but when I get a smart ass male that ask  you can cut meat ??? I love to look and them, smile and say, in more ways than one, give them a wink and say  you want to find out ?? if you do i'll bring my knifes

nothing else said lol

 You're not alone. Lots of people get disrespected for no good reason.

To me, all cutters are good until they prove otherwise. I've worked with lots of women. No difference from men. Good ones and bad ones.

It matters to some stupid customers.  I have had at least one stupid customer assume I don't know anything about meat. Until my mid 30's, I always looked a lot younger than my true age. When I was 24 and had been cutting for about 6 years already, I looked about 19 and was skinny. About 5'11" and 125 lbs. A customer rang the bell. I came out to answer it. Know what she said? "Oh, you probably can't answer my question. Isn't there anyone older than you back there?" All she wanted was pork back fat. And yes, I knew 6 years before that what it was. She upset me. I know how you feel. We have customers where I work (a tint tiny percentage) who think cutters of a certain race will be more knowledgeable about meat than the other certain race.

One time I had to go to another store in my chain for just one day. I was 21 or 22. After working about 1 hour I overheard the manager and 2nd man making remarks about how surprised they were that I was doing a great job. "he didn't look that good" (or something like that). Back then when a new cutter came to the store I was never surprised when they asked "are you a journeyman?" before even working with me for one minute.

It's not just plumbing. It's young age, old age, tattoos, a persons face, and other things.

What about this?: A lady meat clerk who I know well is just like the people you're talking about. She has a crappy old car. She goes to the parts store sometimes for a part that she has a friend install. She will NOT talk to a lady at the parts counter. She thinks she'll get bad advice from a woman. Can you imagine that? A lady meat clerk thinks women can't give reliable advice.