Caroline 's Reviews > Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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by
Caroline 's review
bookshelves: graphic-novel-or-sequential-art, memoir, she-wrote-it, this-gets-real
May 11, 2023
bookshelves: graphic-novel-or-sequential-art, memoir, she-wrote-it, this-gets-real
***SPOILERS HIDDEN***
In 2005 cartoonist Kate Beaton found herself in a dilemma as a recent college graduate with large student loans to pay off. Her double degree in history and anthropology wasn’t opening doors career-wise, so she headed to Alberta, Canada, to work in the oil sands, a job that paid handsomely. Ducks is a sequential-art memoir about her two years working there.
Extremely male-dominated—roughly fifty men to every one woman—oil sands are far from ideal workplaces for women, especially for a young woman making this her first job out of college. This memoir is 450 pages, and stunningly, the majority of it is a chronicling of constant sexual harassment and more: (view spoiler). It appears that not a day went by without some kind of harassment, whether that be quiet leering, objectifying comments to Beaton herself, or objectifying and misogynistic comments about women in general—yet Beaton soldiered her way through what would, understandably, break many people. It was a soul-crushing existence, and her fortitude, and work ethic, stand out as much as the outrageous depictions of harassment.
She wasn’t a robot, though. The panels portraying (view spoiler) Making matters worse was that she had no recourse. Complaining would not only change nothing but could mean consequences for her, and she couldn’t afford to have the job get any worse than it already was, or to lose it altogether. In moments of introspection, Beaton pondered her dilemma and went further to examine how loneliness, isolation, and boredom can bring out another side of a person. She struggled with the reality that most of the men toiling away at this job were husbands, boyfriends, and dads, yet in addition to the sexual harassment and assault, cheating was a way of life at the work camps, expected and even encouraged. She never used the term “toxic masculinity,” but her memoir shows that the oil sands are the very embodiment of the mindset and behavior. In an environment so rough and intimidating, any man who didn’t follow the “male code” would be swiftly mocked and ostracized. She and her sister, who eventually joined her as a co-worker, wondered whether their own loving father could change for the worse if put in such an environment. Is anyone immune?:
She also made the best of her situation. She was friendly with many of the (better) men she worked with. All the while, some of these men addressed her as “Doll” and variations on that, but she let it pass. The impression isn’t that she approved of such belittling monikers, just that she recognized the limits of her miserable situation: Complaining wouldn’t be good for her, and her paycheck would. Ducks is Beaton’s reclaiming of some of the power she lost when she was forced to shut up to get what she needed.
People shouldn’t read this book if they can’t tolerate depictions of men behaving at their worst around women. The memoir is basically a series of these incidents. It doesn’t tell a story, and chronology is nonexistent, but that disorganization works somewhat to show that every day was the same—both the soulless, ugly work setting and the atrocious behavior:
In 2005 cartoonist Kate Beaton found herself in a dilemma as a recent college graduate with large student loans to pay off. Her double degree in history and anthropology wasn’t opening doors career-wise, so she headed to Alberta, Canada, to work in the oil sands, a job that paid handsomely. Ducks is a sequential-art memoir about her two years working there.
Extremely male-dominated—roughly fifty men to every one woman—oil sands are far from ideal workplaces for women, especially for a young woman making this her first job out of college. This memoir is 450 pages, and stunningly, the majority of it is a chronicling of constant sexual harassment and more: (view spoiler). It appears that not a day went by without some kind of harassment, whether that be quiet leering, objectifying comments to Beaton herself, or objectifying and misogynistic comments about women in general—yet Beaton soldiered her way through what would, understandably, break many people. It was a soul-crushing existence, and her fortitude, and work ethic, stand out as much as the outrageous depictions of harassment.
She wasn’t a robot, though. The panels portraying (view spoiler) Making matters worse was that she had no recourse. Complaining would not only change nothing but could mean consequences for her, and she couldn’t afford to have the job get any worse than it already was, or to lose it altogether. In moments of introspection, Beaton pondered her dilemma and went further to examine how loneliness, isolation, and boredom can bring out another side of a person. She struggled with the reality that most of the men toiling away at this job were husbands, boyfriends, and dads, yet in addition to the sexual harassment and assault, cheating was a way of life at the work camps, expected and even encouraged. She never used the term “toxic masculinity,” but her memoir shows that the oil sands are the very embodiment of the mindset and behavior. In an environment so rough and intimidating, any man who didn’t follow the “male code” would be swiftly mocked and ostracized. She and her sister, who eventually joined her as a co-worker, wondered whether their own loving father could change for the worse if put in such an environment. Is anyone immune?:
The worst part for me about being harassed here isn’t that people say shitty things. It’s when they say them and they sound like me, in the accent that I dropped when I went to university. That they look like my cousins and uncle, you know, even though they’re from all over the country…that they are familiar. And that this place creates that where it didn’t exist before. This place. It’s not an excuse, it’s just…The worst thing is that your heart breaks.But Beaton also acknowledged that many men ignored her (not that they weren’t harassing anyone, cheating, or both, however); it’s just that the abusive men so dominated her life that it was easy to forget about the ones who didn’t abuse her.
She also made the best of her situation. She was friendly with many of the (better) men she worked with. All the while, some of these men addressed her as “Doll” and variations on that, but she let it pass. The impression isn’t that she approved of such belittling monikers, just that she recognized the limits of her miserable situation: Complaining wouldn’t be good for her, and her paycheck would. Ducks is Beaton’s reclaiming of some of the power she lost when she was forced to shut up to get what she needed.
People shouldn’t read this book if they can’t tolerate depictions of men behaving at their worst around women. The memoir is basically a series of these incidents. It doesn’t tell a story, and chronology is nonexistent, but that disorganization works somewhat to show that every day was the same—both the soulless, ugly work setting and the atrocious behavior:
. . . work camps are a uniquely capsuled-off society, a liminal space, and analogue for so many other male-dominated spaces. Gendered violence does happen when men outnumber women by as much as fifty to one, as they can in the camps or [at] work sites. Of course it does. Of course this happens when men are in isolation for long stretches of time, away from their families and relationships and communities, and completely resocialized in a camp and work environment like that of the oil sands.That’s recognition of a disturbing reality, not an excuse. Beaton’s memoir won’t allow dysfunction to be swept under the rug.
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Reading Progress
August 11, 2022
– Shelved
August 11, 2022
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 11, 2022
– Shelved as:
graphic-novel-or-sequential-art
August 11, 2022
– Shelved as:
memoir
May 1, 2023
–
Started Reading
May 9, 2023
–
Finished Reading
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
she-wrote-it
May 11, 2023
– Shelved as:
this-gets-real
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Caroline
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May 12, 2023 08:06AM
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So vile. I don't know how she got through it.
It's upsetting, Mikey--but abuse and objectification of women is universal; what differs from place to place is only degree.
"It almost seems that any male-dominated profession is unsuitable for women."
I definitely agree. Even those that are more suitable have incidents. Ask any woman who's worked in a male-dominated field, whether white-collar or blue-collar. (I hope it isn't classist to use such terms.) I read in another book recently--possibly Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men--that women have a difficult enough time in the male-dominated tech sector of Silicon Valley that turnover of female employees is very high. They all have stories to tell. It's saddening. We're all worse off for this.
I was surprised - because to some extent IT was "suppose" to be receptive to women in that workplace.
But the only solution really is to keep hiring women. I was in a place early in my career (early 1980s) where it was mostly males - and then they started hiring women - the misogyny went away gradually - and it made the workplace much more civil. A bunch of young guys together can get very uncivilized and stupid.
I was surprised too because I had this same impression that IT would be receptive to women. I don't know why I assumed that, though.
That definitely comes across in this GN!
I would have been broken and quit, and early on. That's really what the goal is in male-dominated fields--to bully women out. The men who do this may not be consciously aware of that goal, but it IS what underlies all the abuse. Writing this probably was a kind of therapy while also calling attention to a deeply problematic workplace.