In a recent site poll, when I asked “what TV assistant do you most identify with?” many of you claimed an allegiance with The Office’s Pam Beezly. While I love The Office and the Jim/Pam relationship, there’s one thing about Pam that has always bothered me: she’s not an assistant, but she gets treated like one.
As the receptionist, Pam’s job is as much about playing straight woman to others’ jokes as it is about answering the phone and organizing the office. But even though Dwight is technically Michael’s assistant, while Michael SHOULD be having Dwight do all the work Michael doesn’t want to do (which is everything), he usually makes Pam do menial and/or hideously inappropriate things. Why? Partly, because her shy and reserved demeanor sometimes means she doesn’t stick up for herself. Also, because she’s female.
In families where a parent is ill and there are two children, one of each gender, who usually ends up taking on the role of caregiver? The daughter. In workplace situations, when there are male and female assistants of equal pay and status but somebody has to go run a bothersome errand, who gets randomly asked to do it? If your office is like any one I’ve ever worked in, it’s the female assistant every single time. Is this because women are innately more generous and caring? Or is it because people expect women to be more generous and caring?
While Pam’s not technically an assistant, she might as well be, and it makes sense why so many assistants identify with her. That, and they totally want to steal her boyfriend. G-d knows I do.
So true - I’m an office manager and I get treated like an assistant all the time.