Mixed Messages
Published April 14, 2006 | 
But I’m not every girl,and I don’t need no ‘G’ to take care of me
Cause shorty’s got a job, shorty’s got a car
Shorty can pay her own rent
Don’t wanna dance if it is not in my heart
- pink
So last night we bought the new Tomb Raider Legend game for our Xbox360. It’s not like you can buy too many games for it at $60 a pop. In fact it’s sort of unique that we would buy Tomb Raider. For the longest time we were pretty turned off by the whole “chest size designed by 16 year old males” overtones. I’m not sure exactly how that changed. I’m sure in a large part it had to do with Angelina Jolie giving a level of toughness and intelligence to the character on film. That, and it’s just fun to watch her kick A##! I’m happy to see that stronger character carried on in the new game. Well, blended with a healthy dose of peep show camera angles as well. C’mon I’m male, I’d have to pluck out my eyes not to notice! Still, my gut tells me I’d rather have my daughter modeling herself after Lara Croft than Britney Spears. (Both of which I consider be animated works of fiction) I just hope they didn’t make “Legends” too smart, both Mary and I are still stumped by the first real puzzle of the game. Maybe there is an age limit to these things. .
Where am I going with this you ask? Whither are we bound? Well, to something I read in the new issue of Canoe Focus actually.
Did you know?
Only one in five BCU members are female
There is only one woman employed as a performance coach in the BCU
There are NO women on the BCU Board
Surprised? I wonder how things look at the ACA?
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6 Responses to Mixed Messages
well the fair followup question would be how many paddlers are male and how many are female? from there you can determine if there is a fair proportion being represented at the higher levels. I know in whitewater it’s extremely male dominated.
Certainly valid point. I think the sport in general is pretty male dominated but on the other I guess I did’nt thing it was so much so.
Word Verification. . . Filk Vu!!!
I keep trying to say something and it keeps coming out really bitter and hateful and I don’t want to tar the growing list of really, truly incredible gentlemen (and Bill Lozano, chairman of the BCU North America is high on that list) from whom I’ve learned or with whom I’ve taught with the same brush as I’d like to use PROFUSELY on the much shorter list of jerks who ended up making me feel precisely 11.5* inches tall.
The thing I wonder is how many potential women paddlers the jerks end up putting off from the sport entirely – especially if they are teaching beginners. A good teacher in those first few classes can really turn a person on to paddling – a bad one could put somebody off for good.
Of course in all fairness that’s true for instructors of either gender, and sometimes people just go take a class & find the sport doesn’t click for ‘em, I am absolutely not trying to imply that every single woman who takes one beginner class & isn’t inspired to become Justine or Cheri or Ginni is somehow a victim of gender politics.
But I just suspect that a first experience that’s stunk up with eau de men’s locker room can be discouraging for a woman who’s not either a total tomboy or a person of supreme self-confidence.
Derrick’s post wonders why so few women at the top ranks.
Alex comes back with the question of is it a fairly representative percentage –
I come back with well, if it is, why is it that a sport that’s basically pretty gender-neutral is NOT attracting more women?
Oh, and the ACA?
I gave up on them a couple of years ago when Paddler Magazine did one of their top 10 kayakers (sea & whitewater) issues and there were NO women in the whitewater list & maybe one or two in the sea list.
Interestingly enough they did a reader’s poll version of the list. There was a woman or two on the whitewater side on that version. That was nice to see.
Thank you Bonnie! I’m not sure I wonder all that much at the “whys” personally. You’ve given at least part of the reason in your post. I’m sure there are others as well. I happen to be in an area with many, many female paddlers and of course know many others all over the place so although I see the numbers and statements, they don’t actually match my personal experience. That’s why it stands out to me I guess and exactly why I wanted to pose the issue.
I’m glad you took the time to post.
Nikki Kelly would be on everyone’s list as one of the top whitewater boaters in the world right now (male or female). Tanya Schuman, Anna Levaque, Emily Jackson, etc. are really raising the presence of women in whitewater.
Also, I don’t think the gender disparity lies solely in kayaking. Look at any “extreme” outdoor sport (mountain biking, climbing, skateboarding, snowboarding, etc.) and I think you’ll find the same male-female ratios. Perhaps its societal or the way we were raised but most of the girls I know are less inclined to do those types of activities than the guys I know. Now with recreational and sea kayaking, the gender gap may be a bit closer since it’s more similar to running, road biking, etc where women have a prominant presence.