More and more women seem to be entering professions hitherto the preserve of men, showing that they can do the job as well, if not better and, more importantly, breaking societal taboos.

Recently, a group of women plumbers from Zarka — who graduated two years ago and were doing well in this city some 20 kilometres northeast of Amman — joined together to establish an all-female plumbing service in the capital, where the customer base is larger and the pay, they hope, better.

Entering any normally man-dominated profession could be daunting; plumbing no less probably even more so, yet the women received both their families’ and the society’s blessing and support, in the process making a decent living and emancipating themselves.

Just like women cab drivers, many women are more comfortable resorting to the services of other women; in the case of plumbers, it is a service that can be provided even in the absence from home of a man, which is ideal when a leaking pipe or a dripping faucet happens when men may be at work.

The women from Zarka broke a taboo and ventured into a business they could not have considered not too long ago.

It is only hoped that more women will emulate peers who have chosen to work in male-dominated professions, breaking new ground — beyond nursing, teaching and secretarial jobs — and contributing to their families’, and their country’s, economy.

The women of Zarka have taken a first step on a road that eventually, hopefully, will ensures full gender equality.