As a climber and general lover of all things outdoors, and as an adventure therapist, I'm interested in both women's experience in the outdoors and in women in outdoor leadership positions. The videos in this article reminded me that as a society we still have a long way to go...
You mean men and women have different experiences?
Yep. And not just in the outdoors.
This funny, but super sad, article from The Onion puts the differences between men and women into very black and white biological terms, and lists some of the social issues those differences have creates. It was meant to be a joke, but hits hard as you read and realize how serious the consequences are of simply being born female. It means your life will be different than the other half of the population in very specific ways, and it will have nothing to do with your intelligence, skills, passion or personality.
Now you are getting it!
This first video sums up the results of a gender study done on women in corporate leadership positions. The second video is a discussion of the study results.
I wrote about this a little bit before, and as my experience increases, I feel the need to write again. In a conversation I had the pleasure of overhearing, the head scientist where I work shared her experience as a woman in science. Her suggestion to her student was to talk about the problem—that men and women are seen differently—and to keep having that conversation until we as a society have found a way to correct it.
I plan on writing one or two more posts about this subject, sharing some interesting research that I have found regarding women in the outdoors as well as conversations I've had with women in the outdoor industry. I'd love your thoughts, as well as articles or videos you've seen on the subject to include, so please leave comments below!