biggest issues diving as a female

[Scubafitravers]

It is an unfortunate truth.
My wife is an engineer / boat captain / tech diver. She lives in a male dominated world in every aspect of her life.
She used to mention that she doesn't have to be as good as me running the boat, she has to be perfect. Many coming aboard automatically assume she will be incompetent, they don't have that attitude when I run the boat.
I didn't see it at first, but over the years watching her running the boat when I am crewing instead of captaining, she is spot on. Every decision she makes is second guessed and questioned. Nobody does that to me.
I don't know what the answer is or if there is one, but I believe what you are saying and it sucks.

Your wife sounds awesome! I think getting more women into the sport and supporting those who are already in it is probably the best way. I have had some incredibly supportive people around me that have helped me feel welcomed in the community - it meant the world to me then and I hope that with time the diving world will be more open to all kinds of people. Thank you for your comment

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

It is an unfortunate truth.
My wife is an engineer / boat captain / tech diver. She lives in a male dominated world in every aspect of her life.
She used to mention that she doesn't have to be as good as me running the boat, she has to be perfect. Many coming aboard automatically assume she will be incompetent, they don't have that attitude when I run the boat.
I didn't see it at first, but over the years watching her running the boat when I am crewing instead of captaining, she is spot on. Every decision she makes is second guessed and questioned. Nobody does that to me.
I don't know what the answer is or if there is one, but I believe what you are saying and it sucks.

Unfortunately this is true in any male dominated area.. including driving a car, mowing the lawn, really anything that is not deems "women's work" or "women's role."
And we don't get paid as much either...

The Barbie movie has a great clip of what's its like to be a woman...

 

[happy-diver]

And some context added to above, of what's it's like to be a woman...



and a man

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

It is an unfortunate truth.
My wife is an engineer / boat captain / tech diver. She lives in a male dominated world in every aspect of her life.
She used to mention that she doesn't have to be as good as me running the boat, she has to be perfect. Many coming aboard automatically assume she will be incompetent, they don't have that attitude when I run the boat.
I didn't see it at first, but over the years watching her running the boat when I am crewing instead of captaining, she is spot on. Every decision she makes is second guessed and questioned. Nobody does that to me.
I don't know what the answer is or if there is one, but I believe what you are saying and it sucks.

Women have to be twice as good as men to get half the recognition.

Which is why all my doctors have always been women.

 

[Wookie]

It is an unfortunate truth.
My wife is an engineer / boat captain / tech diver. She lives in a male dominated world in every aspect of her life.
She used to mention that she doesn't have to be as good as me running the boat, she has to be perfect. Many coming aboard automatically assume she will be incompetent, they don't have that attitude when I run the boat.
I didn't see it at first, but over the years watching her running the boat when I am crewing instead of captaining, she is spot on. Every decision she makes is second guessed and questioned. Nobody does that to me.
I don't know what the answer is or if there is one, but I believe what you are saying and it sucks.

Funny, I don't know any other woman like that.

When we ran the Spree in Texas, the men, especially the ones who ran out of air that she had to drag from the water blubbering by their stack and swivel hated mine, called her every name in the book, weren't going to go on a dive boat with "that bitch".

Her super power is finding lost things in the water. Mine is dropping her in the right place. We were working for the Navy in Key West, and the MDSU team were complaining to the scientist that they couldn't put the bolt in the hole on the underwater rig he had invented. Melanie was walking by and she had installed the rig many times (it was a major PITA, and you had to hold your mouth just right to install this particular bolt, inch and a quarter by 8" long) and the scientist asked if they needed her to go show them how it was done. She had briefed them how to do it, but being a girl, she couldn't possibly know anything, right?

We were practicing mine hunting with the MH-53 squadron out of Norfolk. We'd go out and drop the mine shapes, the mine hunters would find them, the shrimp boats would drag them around at night, then the mine hunters would go find them again. Then we had to recover them, some were miles from where we dropped them. The bottom was "shrimp bottom", sand covered with 8-12" of fine silt, about 5 feet of visibility. The trick is to follow the fish. Since there were no features on the bottom, I would look around with a wide bean sonar and get within a couple of hundred feet of a concentration of fish, drop her over, and she would go follow the fish and find the mine shape. It was an awesome job, they would hire us after the MDSU team gave up looking. We were good for about 10 dives a day between the team, and would find 4-6 mine shapes in 10 drops. Mark them and the Navy would com out and recover them later int he day. We made a lot of money on those jobs.

 

[Lil Squid]

Funny, I don't know any other woman like that.

When we ran the Spree in Texas, the men, especially the ones who ran out of air that she had to drag from the water blubbering by their stack and swivel hated mine, called her every name in the book, weren't going to go on a dive boat with "that bitch".

Her super power is finding lost things in the water. Mine is dropping her in the right place. We were working for the Navy in Key West, and the MDSU team were complaining to the scientist that they couldn't put the bolt in the hole on the underwater rig he had invented. Melanie was walking by and she had installed the rig many times (it was a major PITA, and you had to hold your mouth just right to install this particular bolt, inch and a quarter by 8" long) and the scientist asked if they needed her to go show them how it was done. She had briefed them how to do it, but being a girl, she couldn't possibly know anything, right?

We were practicing mine hunting with the MH-53 squadron out of Norfolk. We'd go out and drop the mine shapes, the mine hunters would find them, the shrimp boats would drag them around at night, then the mine hunters would go find them again. Then we had to recover them, some were miles from where we dropped them. The bottom was "shrimp bottom", sand covered with 8-12" of fine silt, about 5 feet of visibility. The trick is to follow the fish. Since there were no features on the bottom, I would look around with a wide bean sonar and get within a couple of hundred feet of a concentration of fish, drop her over, and she would go follow the fish and find the mine shape. It was an awesome job, they would hire us after the MDSU team gave up looking. We were good for about 10 dives a day between the team, and would find 4-6 mine shapes in 10 drops. Mark them and the Navy would com out and recover them later int he day. We made a lot of money on those jobs.

Frank, I hope you both know just how admired and respected Melanie is among many of us Texas divers. She’s been a role model for me, it was always such a pleasure and sense of comfort to watch her quiet competence in action every time we went out with you guys here in Texas. Y’all are really missed.

 

[scubadada]

Frank, I hope you both know just how admired and respected Melanie is among many of us Texas divers. She’s been a role model for me, it was always such a pleasure and sense of comfort to watch her quiet competence in action every time we went out with you guys here in Texas. Y’all are really missed.

We miss them in Florida too!

 

[Wookie]

Frank, I hope you both know just how admired and respected Melanie is among many of us Texas divers. She’s been a role model for me, it was always such a pleasure and sense of comfort to watch her quiet competence in action every time we went out with you guys here in Texas. Y’all are really missed.

I told her your sentiments.

You touched her.