Is diving a friendly sport for women?

[jepuskar]

..two sides to every story...

 

[wrecNcaver]

carebear once bubbled...
I was wondering if you ladies feel that diving is a sport that welcomes women, since men seem to be the overwhelming majority in diving?

Carebear, sorry you had to be subjected to the male idiot, but don't let him ruin this sport for you. You will find the majority of divers, be they male or female, are great people. I also find that on most dives, divers help each other suit up, regardless of gender. But you still have one or two that will give males a bad name. Overall, this is a very friendly sport for women. Years ago when I started wreck diving, I had a run in on a boat trip with a male ego. As I boarded the boat he said in a loud voice, oh sh*t we aren't diving with her??? Well by the end of the weekend, he changed his tune. That was back when I was usually the only women on the boat and wearing doubles. Well that male diver has had several female dive buddies over the years. So you see, they do evolve. I also am a cave diver and have never had a problem being a woman in the cave world.

If this is a sport you like, hope you keep diving and ignore the idiots in the sport. And please, let us know what dive shop this fool worked in, as a woman, I want to be sure to NEVER give them any business.

 

[carebear]

jepuskar once bubbled...
..two sides to every story...

that's the kind of response I expected to get :sigh: but the kind of action from me that was required for this kind of treatment was simply not there.
Fortunately, everyone on this thread has been very helpful in this regard. I was hoping this kind of thing was more the exception that the rule and from your comments, it seems to be that way. As far as disclosing the name of the shop, I don't want to ruin the reputation of a shop based on the crappy customer service by just one employee. However, don't worry, I don't ever plan on going back...there are plenty of other LDS in the chicago area who can profit from my business.

 

[annie]

>>There is far too much macho BS in diving that gets people killed: <<

good point. it's not just a question of people not being friendly - it's downright dangerous, especially around less experienced divers (and they're the people who are usually subjected most to macho stuff). Macho guys/girls intimidate people who are probably nervous enough already, distract them from concentrating on their dive and usually mislead them too since all too often they know nothing. They're also dangerous in the water because they think they're invincible and take daft risks. Sometimes they're being macho to hide their own nervousness about something which they should mention, but they don't and it turns into an issue later on, underwater (dangerous). As a DM I always kept an extra eye on the machos. They're just unpredictable.

 

[sealife]

carebear once bubbled...

this is why I posted the question in the first place, I had a bad experience at the LDS my boyfriend frequents and wondered if this is the attitude in general or just one instance.
Being unfamiliar with diving, I mistakenly disagreed with an opinion of one of the employees...whoa big mistake...I could almost feel the testosterone building in the room. Without explaining himself, he says to my boyfriend...take your girlfriend home now.

Carebear, what was the opinion that you disagreed with and what was the tone and attitude with which you expressed yourself?

Sometimes that does make a big difference. If you came off inadvertently as a closed-minded know-it-all and the discuss involved something safety related, I can understand the reaction you received.

I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but not knowing the full story, I'm not sure we are doing you a favor by all jumping on the bandwagon saying "he was totally wrong"....

After all, you yourself even admit that you were wrong in your disagreement due to your lack of knowledge about diving.

I just know that I've ended conversations before with people who wanted to "argue" diving, and they didn't have a clue about what they were talking about. Had one "experienced" guy hard-down argue with me that regulators can't and don't freeflow in cold water... arghhhhhh!!!

 

[FredT]

jepuskar once bubbled...
I see some guys do the ole lift up over the head technique....I just have to shake my head at that. :/

The "over the head" donning technique is the best method for those with a bad back, or for someone wanting to not develop one.

Just be sure to do it while both you and the tank are neutral at about 6'!

FT

 

[GTADiver]

Dee once bubbled...
Some men resent taking instructions and guidance from a woman.

Thats because we have followed your instructions from Day 1. From mom, to girlfriend, to wife we always resent instruction. LOL

But seriously, I have been diving for several years and I don't think I have seen women divers treated in an unfriendly manner unless it was from their spouse. Just kidding, I have seen it in the LDS but not on dive sites. I dont know why there are so many creeps in the LDS it just seems to happen that way.

Scuba is a buddy sport which means you help each other regardless of gender.

A 19 or 20 year old dive master may be treated differently but that would be based on age rather than gender. I dont mean to change the direction of this thread but there are a lot of divers that feel that leadership cards are too easy to get. Some would question whether a 20 year old could have enough diving experience to supervise a dive. Mind you I had the same thought myself yesterday when I was chatting with a young soldier from Fort Drum yesterday. I just kept thinking "this kid is too young to be in the army".

 

[ScubaBaby]

GTADiver once bubbled...
Some would question whether a 20 year old could have enough diving experience to supervise a dive. Mind you I had the same thought myself yesterday when I was chatting with a young soldier from Fort Drum yesterday. I just kept thinking "this kid is too young to be in the army".

Okay Abby....deep soothing breaths!!! Only messing!

I understand your not saying that to offend....but to make a point......a 20 yr old could have been fully qualified from the age of 16 meaning they have 4 years experience.

A 30 yr old could walk into a dive shop and ask for fast track through to DM withing 6 months! So a 20 yr old with 4 yrs experience is looked upon as "too young" but a 30 yr old whos only have 6 months experience is acceptable.

Sorry - you can probably tell that the age issue cuts deep - it just annoys me that some people only see the age and not the experience.

If I was given the choice of the 20 yr old with 4 years experience or the 30 yr old with 6 months - I'd choose the 20 yr old every time!

 

[Northeastwrecks]

Scubababy:

Your point is well taken.

Just curious. One of the things that we encourage our people to do when they start a class is to introduce themselves to the group by including a brief diving resume. We tend to include the type of diving we do (technical, photography, former military, etc...), how long we've been teaching or assisting, and approximately how long we've been diving. This lets people know that we actually might know what we're doing while giving them an opportunity to seek out those who have experience in areas that they wish to learn.

Do you think that this would make a difference?

 

[MakoMermaid]

carebear once bubbled...
I was wondering if you ladies feel that diving is a sport that welcomes women, since men seem to be the overwhelming majority in diving?

I've always felt very welcome. I get some good-natured kidding because of my gear (pink... very "girl"), but I've never been treated poorly on a dive boat or in a shop. I set up my own gear, haul my own tanks and weights, etc. and I think that goes a long way toward reassuring the guys that I don't need babysitting or handholding.

I have noticed that some shops are more... umm, testosterone-heavy than others. I took my medic first aid class through a shop staffed by ex-navy divers... they treated me very well, but the ambiance was a bit too macho for my taste. I eventually found another shop in the area that is a better match for my personality and I'm very happy. So if the first shop you visit doesn't "click" with you, don't be afraid to shop around.