am i the only person who finds being called "cute" an insult?

[hopefully not]

i have been petite and small my entire life. i recently got a job working in manufacturing where men out number women about 9 to 1. it doesn't bother me that i get stared at as much as it used to because i realize that since the men don't see women for hours at a time, when a young 19 year old girl walks by, its only natural for them to stare. i love my job! i work for a subcontractor that maintains the tools used to build the cars that we make (i work for BMW), which means i get to play with power tools all day long (which is something i have always loved, since i grew up with 2 brothers). BUT, since i am rather small (and a woman), most of the men don't take me seriously and automatically assume i have no idea what i am talking about when i am out on the production line working on the tools. even though i know more about cars and tools than 80% of the men who work there, because of my appearance, i am almost always blown off when i start talking. recently i was out on the line talking to a few men who work on the line and one described me as cute. back in high school i wouldn't have thought twice about it, but i found "cute" to be very insulting! almost like they weren't taking me seriously! i have had experiences where a superior at work will ask me a question and when i give him an answer, he kind of laughs and blows it off as wrong just because he didn't like my answer. and then he would go and ask my (male) supervisor who would give him the EXACT same answer and he would accept it without a second thought! it is very frustrating!

sometimes i feel like i would rather be called a bitch than cute! because if i was a bitch, maybe then the men at work would take me seriously!

just curious if i am the only one who feels this way, and if there is anything i can do or say to get people to stop under minding me.