Deflating a Male Stereotype.

Yesterday morning, over breakfast in London, I changed my thinking about a particular set of people and the perception that we all have about them. I was advised by one of my work colleagues to visit a cafe on the Kensington High Street.

We all have this image of the site construction man - he is a gruff, fall out of bed, unshaven Neanderthal man who barely has respect for himself or others. He wolf whistles at passing ladies and has never heard of wearing a belt to keep his trousers up. He eats the breakfast roll stuffed with sausages and bacon while the ketchup drips down the front of his hi-viz jacket. And he doesn't wipe it off.


The media portray this type of working man as semi-educated - he swills beer at lunchtime with his pork pie. They work hard and they play hard. They display the farmer's tan in summertime and stick to working nine to five.

This establishment had everything you could possibly think of for breakfast. I entered, with only one other table occupied. Within fifteen minutes, the place was full of hard hats and orange jackets.



I was surrounded by approximately a dozen workmen. My preconception was what may come out of their mouths might be uncouth, sexist and chauvinistic. It was anything but any of those notions.

After all of these men had ordered their food, a young beautiful woman walked in and sat at the only remaining table - a small two seated table in amongst all the men. They barely even glanced at her. I found this utterly remarkable.

As I enjoyed my breakfast, I took a quick glance around at what the men were eating. They ate toast, cereal, fruit and muesli. Some ate poached eggs while others ate scrambled. They ate wholemeal bread. They chatted quietly without being anyway raucous.


They read papers that didn't fit the stereotype of the building site male. No sensationalist tabloids here - they read The Times, The I and The Guardian. No Daily Sport or Sun.

Their conversations were the most surprising. They talked about five-a-side football leagues and getting to bed early. They talked about religion and attending church more often. Others talked passionately about their children and the cute things infants, do and say. They even talked about the stock market and buying and selling shares.

They also chatted about the one thing everyone talks about - the recession. They came up with their versions of how to solve it in the short term and long term. They were far more informed than I was.

Not at any stage were they ignorant. If anything, they were the most polite men I had the pleasure to encounter yesterday - and I met many men afterwards, in over-priced suits that were far ruder. Your clothing is definitely not necessarily an indicator to someones personality.

And did I mention that I was the only one in the cafe - eating the full English breakfast??