I'm Gonna Be an Engineer

Written by Peggy Seeger (Pete's half-sister) and here sung by the incomparable Bobbie McGee

When I was a little girl I wished I was a boy
I tagged along behind the gang and wore my corduroys
Everybody said I only did it to annoy
But I was gonna be an engineer

Momma told me, "Can't you be a lady?
Your duty is to make me the mother of a pearl
Wait until you're older, dear, and maybe
You'll be glad that you're a girl"

Dainty as a Dresden statue
Gentle as a Jersey cow
Smooth as silk, gives creamy milk
Learn to coo, learn to moo
That's what you do to be a lady now

When I went to school I learned to write and how to read
Some history, geography and home economy
And typing is a skill that every girl is sure to need
To while away the extra time until the time to breed
Then they had the nerve to say, "What would you like to be?"
I says, "I'm gonna be an engineer"

"No, you only need to learn to be a lady
The duty isn't yours, for to try and run the world
An engineer could never have a baby
Remember, dear, that you're a girl"

She's smart - for a woman
I wonder how she got that way
You get no choice, you get no voice
Just stay mum, pretend you're dumb
And that's how you come to be a lady today

Then Jimmy come along and we set up a conjugation
We were busy every night with loving recreation
I spent my day at work so he could get his education
Well, now he's an engineer!

He says, "I know you'll always be a lady
It's the duty of my darling to love me all her life
Could an engineer look after or obey me?
Remember, dear, that you're my wife"

Well, as soon as Jimmy got a job I began again
Then happy at my turret lathe a year or so, and then
The morning that the twins were born, Jimmy says to them:
"Kids, your mother was an engineer"

"You owe it to the kids to be a lady
Dainty as a dish rag, faithful as a chow
Stay at home, you got to mind the baby
Remember you're a mother now"

Oh, every time I turn around it's something else to do
It's cook a meal or mend a sock, sweep a floor or two
I listen in to Jimmy Young, it makes me wanna spew
I was gonna be an engineer

So I really wish that I could be a lady
I could do the lovely things that a lady's s'posed to do
I wouldn't even mind if only they would pay me
And I could be a person too

What price - for a woman
You can buy her for a ring of gold
To love and obey, without any pay
You get a cook and a nurse, for better or worse
You don't need a purse when the lady is sold

Oh, but now that times are harder and my Jimmy's got the sack
I went down to Vickers, they were glad to have me back
But I'm a third-class citizen, my wages tell me that
And I'm a first-class engineer

The boss he says, "We pay you as a lady
You only got the job 'cause I can't afford a man
With you I keep the profits high as may be
You're just a cheaper pair of hands"

You've got one fault - you're a woman
You're not worth the equal pay
A bitch or a tart, you're nothing but heart
Shallow and vain, you got no brain
You even go down the drain like a lady today

Well, I listened to my mother and I joined a typing pool
I listened to my lover and I put him through his school
But if I listen to the boss, I'm just a bloody fool
And an underpaid engineer

I've been a sucker ever since I was a baby
As a daughter, as a wife, as a mother and a dear
But I'll fight them as a woman, not a lady
I'll fight them as an engineer!

nice song

Nice song

Powerful lyrics!

Here is Peggy Seeger singing her song

Batgirl, I've been following you for quite awhile, I really appreciate the insights you have.  Great history lessons. 

Does this Bobbie McGee have any connection to the song made famous by Janis Joplin?

People prattle about the "meaning of life" as if there is some meaning other than that you live the days you live and then you die.  That's all crap, and precisely the reason that individual rights, save collective efforts in private sector unions, are so important.  You live and you die.  The End.  It matters not whether you win or lose, only how you fight your pyrrhic victory.

No. There's no connection. In fact Kris Kristofferson, who wrote the song, based it on a woman named Bobbie McKee.  
This song was written by Peggy Seeger in 1971 for a project she and her husband Ewan MacColl were working on. She said that despite the fact that she was never discouraged from following her dreams, coming from a family of over-achievers,  the words just flowed and she wrote the song very quickly.  

59 cents for every man's dollar...
I was listening to this podcast, https://www.wnyc.org/story/part-seven-sixty-words-per-minute-clerical-workers-have-their-say/ ,  where Bobbie McGee, who had gone to secretarial school, worked as a secretary and probably identifies with this song more so than its author, talks about gender stereotypes, women in the workplace and even sings some verses from this song.  

Thanks. You've been here a long time.

Yes they are... on many levels. 

Thank you for the clarification, batgirl.  Thanks also for introducing us to this inspiring activist!

Cool stuff!! Touch of Malvina Reynolds in the lyrics. Many thanks as always. Take care 👍

زنانی با اندیشه‌ی والا و دوست داشتنی شما در اقلیتند.  .آفرین به زنان قدرتمند و آگاه به خویشتن. 

Good stuff young lady!! Keep up the positive viewpoints!!

Do you know what this forum is according to Chess.com? Off topic! That is what it is.

I think you might be a tad bored Batgirl. I am too. 

As you know, Malvina is one of my favorites
The Malvina Reynolds Sampler