Rock and Sky:
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Gear Reviews
  • Trip Reports
  • Meet Marge

Perception, Women and the Outdoors - Part 1

12/10/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
Every so often something pops up in my life, and when it reaches critical mass I feel compelled to write about it. This is one of those things. Thanks to Upworthy, I've been seeing a lot more social justice-related things in my FB feed, in particular, videos and articles about women. 

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.
This must also mean that men and women in leadership roles have different experiences, right?
     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 grew up ignorant of these differences in perception. It isn't that I didn't experience them, I just didn't understand what I was experiencing. Now as a grown up (sort of), I've found that this kind of discrimination happens on a daily basis. It is noticeably present in my role at work, where often I conduct training sessions or manage diverse groups of people. I constantly feel the pressure of wanting to be seen as "nice," versus wanting to get the job done—two things that shouldn't need to be in conflict.  
Women in outdoor leadership roles experience the same thing, and I would argue, in a higher degree. The wilderness, like business, has historically been a "boys club." So with increasing numbers of women taking their involvement in the outdoors to the next level, it is becoming more and more important to understand the differences between men and women, how they treat each other (and themselves—women can be just as hard on other women), and how that influences things like equality, mental health, physical health and the potential to live a fulfilling life. Not only are we dealing with a topic that has only lately come into scholarly study, but one that has roots in biology, psychology and sociology. 

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!
In the meantime, you can see where you fall on the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. 
1 Comment
Heidi @BananaBuzzbomb link
12/10/2013 09:20:43 pm

True. Very true. It's almost a catch 22 for me. I try not to think about too much, so I'm not making a big deal out of something....but at the same time needs to be tackled head on. We wouldn't be where we are if it weren't for women stepping up and knocking down stereotypes, right? Looking forward to more posts.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Aleya Littleton:

    Picture
    Migrant Science Teacher
    Rock Climbing Nerd
    Global Adventurer 

    Twitter: 

    Tweets by @AleyaJean

    Flickr:

    Picture

    Favorites:

    Moosejaw
    Picture

    Archives:

    December 2020
    December 2018
    January 2018
    April 2015
    January 2015
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photos used under Creative Commons from chelsea.parker.photo, rachel_thecat