Sexism alive and kickin'

I try not to jump on the feminist soap box, ever, but it seems hard to avoid these days. I build houses for Habitat for Humanity (a truly wonderful organization). It is not uncommon to find a lot of women on the construction site and still a fair number of men taking tools out of their hands or making totally unacceptable comments. I don't understand how people don't realize that referring to sweeping the site as 'women's work' is not acceptable. I'm at an AmeriCorps Habitat for Humanity leadership conference this week. This topic came up today in a session regarding leading volunteers. Obviously, the problem of volunteers not listening or respecting women on the work site is not an isolated event. I was furious to witness the question dismissed with jokes and indirect answers today. I won't rehearse the idiocy of the 90 minute session here. I just want to implore anyone, glbtq young or old, to stand up for yourself. Stand up for what is right. Don't just ignore these acts when you see or hear them. If someone isn't going to stand up for themselves, step in. Don't dismiss your worth for the sake of avoiding an awkward moment. Stop making jokes and face the small comments head on before they expand into bigger problems like Cali's prop 8 (p.s. vote NO).
Okay, thanks for the indulgence, I now pass the box to someone else.