Antonia Gigglberger - Documentary Photographer

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Caroline

PhD Student in Computerscience at Aarhus University, Denmark

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Back in highschool I started an all women's coding club. I like to show up to class however I want to dress. I want women and men, all genders, to know that you can show up to any profession the way you want, that you don't have to fit a stereotype.

Thekrayat

Studies Mechanical Engineering at Aarhus University, Denmark

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There's two women in the whole semester.
There's this pressure, if I make one mistake, it's going to ruin it for all the girls, somehow. It feels like some type of responsibility, which it shouldn't, we are supposed to be allowed to make mistakes, it's the biggest part of engineering, you have to fail a hundred times, that's the essence of it.
Sometimes I just want to be. I don't want to be the good muslim girl, or the oppressed muslim girl, or the one girl in the engineering class, I just want to be the engineer here, and I'm doing well.
Sometimes you have to take things personally. When someone says 'no offense': Yes, take offense, take it personally, and tell them that it's not okay. And I know it's the opposite of what I said earlier of when I'm concerned if I should say something or not, but deep down I know we always should, we always should.
Just because you don't feel like you fixed everything, you might still have done something. You might have made it just a little bit easier for the other girl in the office, or you made your boss aware of how to talk to his employees. Maybe you haven't solved everything, but your presence might have done more good than you might take credit for.

Vibeke

Bus driver in Aarhus, Denmark

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The first time I was sitting behind the wheel, I had this feeling: 'I want to be a fucking bus driver'. It was so good, sitting behind the wheel, in this big bus. It is a feeling of power.
It's just like one big family here. You are a woman, but most of the guys are pretty nice. Of course we have different cultures here, and different ages, and you can feel some of them are more reserved over the females, whereas others are coming and giving you a hug, and that's totally fine. And some of them are like no no, because if somebody tells your wife at home that you hugged a female, and all that. There's no difference if you are a male or female here.

Mai

DJ and Eventmanager in Aarhus, Denmark

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I see a lot of men in this industry. I've been in it for eight to ten years. To whatever venue I go, it's very male dominated. Sometimes it makes me feel a bit insecure, but it also gives me a lot of power. I feel seen, like there's pros and cons about being seen because you're a woman, but also when I come and do my thing, and it goes really well, then I feel like I'm a badass bitch, you know.

Laura

Tattoo Artist in Aarhus, Denmark

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It's very important for studios to have women, because many girls feel uncomfortable getting tattoos in or near intimate areas from men. In the other shop I worked in I felt more sexism in the all male environment. I'm laughing because I never took it seriously, but as a girl you needed to know how to behave as a man, because if you didn't at the time, they would just eat you.
They are always expecting me to do girly things, fine, thin, delicate lines, and sometimes it goes with your personality, but if you want to do something else, it 's like 'you cannot make this style, this style is better for this guy to do'.

There were two more women applying for the same position, I remember they told me that they didn't choose the other ones for how they looked. One was too fat, the other one was too masculine looking. And they told me they chose me because I was looking more feminine, and maybe more presentable in their perspective. Maybe the other ones were more talented than me. You're choosing me, not because I'm good, but because I don't look fat. I don't know how to take it. Should I say thank you, or should I cry?

Annika

Studies Economics and Business Administration at Aarhus University, Denmark

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I'm part of a case solving team at my university. You have to work through a case, and present different options. There is definitely more men than women in my club at the moment.
The dress code for guys and girls is different. But I also think it does give off a very different impression, especially if you're looking at things in business, it's very stereotypical but I can see that it might feel a lot more trustworthy shaking hands with a male who is dressed in a blazer and dress pants. There's different expectations from someone like that, opposed to a girl wearing a flowery blouse. If you see a woman in a power suit, it's like, wow she's really trying to be more asserting, more dominant. But when I see a guy in a suit, I would never even think 'oh that's a power suit'. It's just a suit. Especially as a girl, if I'm about to lead a conference, you want to wear a power suit, because it makes you look like you know what you're talking about. And just saying that out loud, it's weird that, as a girl, the association of wearing a suit is so different than a guy's. Every guy is going to be up there wearing a suit.

Simone

Studies Saxophone at Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark

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I am one of two saxophone players in all years, the other one being a guy.
I feel like I have to create my own path, because I haven't seen anyone on it yet. I was definitely always one of the few females around. I kind of always felt off. Even though when I am in a room with other male musicians, I do become one of the guys. I fit in in some way in the environment, but I think I just realised that I was never my whole self. It was one part of me that fitted in that room, but I was starving of wanting to be able to also be vulnerable, or be sad one day, or wanting to talk with people about serious stuff, or whatever it is. I didn't feel that sensitive side, there wasn't much space for that in these band sessions.

Anda

Studies Chemical Engineering at Aarhus University, Denmark

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There's seventy men and thirty women in my class. Here in Denmark I would say we are treated equally, but back in Romania it's not the same, especially in my industry.
In the industries there are a lot of men who treat women extremely bad. In one of my internships I got the feeling that my role is to be beautiful and nice, that I have to do the secretary things. If you want to do the engineering things, most probably they're not going to trust you, they have to double-check you. And I remember once, I argued with my boss about this, and I told him that I'm here because I want to learn something, and not because I'm beautiful. No, I'm not that type of person. Maybe somebody else, a woman in your age would be satisfied with that, but not me. But of course I couldn't change anything. I just quit. Because, I cannot, what should I do with my life.

Sigrid

Studies Medicine at Aarhus University; female lead singer in two all male bands

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It's almost like a cultural thing, because ever since I've been a little girl, it's been the boys in the band, and the girls are singing.
I actually mostly like it, but it is also quite funny, it's just so boyish. It's a lot of bullshit going on, sometimes I get into this boyish conversations, and I feel like I love that I can be a part of it, but it's also a little too much. And it's funny because I really don't feel like somebody is stepping on my feet or of ruling me, but sometimes they joke about I'm the sex appeal, I am the woman in the front, and I need to look good at the front. It's mostly just, you know, it is for fun, really. But, in some way, it is also the truth about a lot of bands. I think it's good to be aware of, so you can choose. Maybe I don't want to look good, maybe I just want to be a musician standing here, like the other ones, they don't care about what they wear.

Marika

Clown; Part of an all female theatre collective; Yoga teacher in Aarhus, Denmark

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The idea is that the clown doesn't have a gender. But it makes a difference if you see a clown woman or a clown man. We do a lot of slapstick, it's a lot of energy, strong engery. And of course as a woman you can do that, but still sometimes it's also nice to have a different kind of engergy. It can still be funny, it can still be strong. Of course you can find clown men that are as poetic as women, maybe, but there is this different kind of energy. I'm also trying to find a new way of doing things, because yes, I'm a woman, I'm not a man, and where can I find that softness also.

Chrouq

Multimedia-journalist from Egypt

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If there is an accident, or there is something happening far away from Cairo, where I live and work, they just want to send the male journalist and photojournalist to cover it, because they feel like it would be dangerous for you as a woman. Also, they want to have someone who is okay to work at a late time, not a woman who prefers to go back early. I don't know from where they have this stereotype, maybe some women are concerned about their safety, but you also have to ask me first. Maybe it's okay for me. You don't have the right to take this decision for me.
Also, when they send a male photographer to cover news, they will not choose me as the journalist, but a male journalist because of the costs. They can share a hotel room so it will be cheaper. We don't have one single female photographer for the online news website I work for, which is one of the largest of its kind in Cairo and the Middle East.
Many of my journalist friends in Egypt are female, and we support each other. We try to not think about this a lot, to not be disappointed, we're just trying to find our voices and stories, and we will do it at whatever cost, even if we have to pay from our own budget. But it also feels unfair sometimes.