Macho Men

[spectrum]

I always maintained that if you can carry your own gear, it's time to find something else to do.

I assume you meant can't.

I do accept that can and shall can co-exist however. If I'm moving my tank, I'll move my wife's. If she's rinsing her suit, she'll rinse mine. It all makes efficient teamwork. In the end she needs to handle hers on her own. She thinks nothing of making the weekday runs to the LDS for air fills, and the tanks are usually stowed in the gear locker when I get home.

With your backgound I take it you are able to let her do drills without you jumping in to help. This is a good start at bonding as a dive buddy pair.

When my wife saw the pool full of co-eds she had every reason to stick with the class just in case there was more to diving than blowing bubbles. :11:

Pete

 

[nessum]

Interesting interaction at the dive shop last night. We were unpacking gear and joking around. And amongst the kidding I was told that I wasn't a girl I was -my name-. And then I was told that it was meant as a compliment. In a way I was flattered, knowing that such a comment meant I was respected as a diver/dive professional first and my gender came second.
But then I had to wonder if that means being a girl is still viewed as a detriment in this industry?
Not trying to read too much into it because it was all in fun. But I thought it might be an appropriate tie-in to this thread.

 

[tangfish]

If diving is anything like skiing in the backcountry, the statistics probably show that fatalities occur primarily when there are only men present in the group. Most times that people do stupid things is when its the result of a good 'ol fashioned pissing contest, something women somehow seem to defuse just by merely being there. You can come diving with my buddies and me anytime!

I am trying to find myself some dive buddies and I'd prefer to dive with another female but I somehow forgot what a "macho" sport this is! Now that I've had time to think about it yes the majority of the people at local dive sites are men, most of the employees at the LDS are men, and boy there seem to be a lot of men on this board!

Do you ladies dive primarily with a.) men b.) other ladies c.) 50/50?

I'm going to see if the LDS can help me find a female buddy but I may just have to bite the bullet.

 

[D_B]

Interesting interaction at the dive shop last night. We were unpacking gear and joking around. And amongst the kidding I was told that I wasn't a girl I was -my name-. And then I was told that it was meant as a compliment. In a way I was flattered, knowing that such a comment meant I was respected as a diver/dive professional first and my gender came second.
But then I had to wonder if that means being a girl is still viewed as a detriment in this industry? ...

I bet that your gender does not have any bearing on how they feel about you ... you are (your name) to them , just like I am DB

 

[Storm]

I assume you meant can't.

I do accept that can and shall can co-exist however. If I'm moving my tank, I'll move my wife's. If she's rinsing her suit, she'll rinse mine. It all makes efficient teamwork. In the end she needs to handle hers on her own. She thinks nothing of making the weekday runs to the LDS for air fills, and the tanks are usually stowed in the gear locker when I get home.

With your backgound I take it you are able to let her do drills without you jumping in to help. This is a good start at bonding as a dive buddy pair.

When my wife saw the pool full of co-eds she had every reason to stick with the class just in case there was more to diving than blowing bubbles. :11:

Pete

My wife, Judy, can take care of herself when it comes to just about anything.

Yes with my training and background as a trainer, I can, and do sit back and let her do her own drills and as a trainer I also know the importance of differing to the DM and DIs. It's their job to teach her and I. It's MY job to learn from the DI and DMs and not interfere with what their job is.

In fact I feel, that do to otherwise would be placing my wife at risk as she would not have the opportunity to properly learn the skills necessary to do the job safely, and effectively.

 

[nessum]

I bet that your gender does not have any bearing on how they feel about you ... you are (your name) to them , just like I am DB

Well, I've been the only girl in the shop (not in instructing... there's a few of us, but in the actual shop) for months now & there are some closed-minded clients that just don't want to deal with girls. One guy in particular will ask flat out if there's ANYBODY else he can talk to & when there's not he'll let me rent him a tank. It's not that he dislikes me... he'll blabber on for hours to me. But he just doesn't want to deal on a professional level with women in the industry.
And the guys I work with know that I get annoyed by this. As well as the frequent assumption that I'm a divemaster. It's often assumed that I'm just the back-up to the boys' lead.
So it is refreshing to know that at least the people I work with don't feel the same way.

 

[D_B]

"closed-minded" ... yep , that is the correct word to use , and I might add a few more that are less flattering

DB

 

[Ayisha]

It's often assumed that I'm just the back-up to the boys' lead.

I'm sure many women get this in various industries. Your story reminded me of something similar that happened to me.

Many years ago, I had a male Assistant Teacher, and I had begun working full-time in the summer. When the Janitor returned from summer vacation and met me working with Jeremy, he had an interesting conversation with Jeremy right in front of me.

The nearly-retired janitor said to Jeremy, "You got yourself a cute little assistant, eh?" (Wink, wink, nudge, nudge) Jeremy said, "Oh no, she's the boss". The janitor said, "What?!" in utter disbelief. Jeremy replied, "I'm her assistant. She's the E.C.E." He had an absolutely disgusted look on his face as he said "What's that?" Jeremy said "She's the head teacher". I finally piped up and said, "But Jeremy's been here for years, we're equals". He looked absolutely horrified and said nothing more.

I'm sure there was a generational thing going on there, as Jeremy was in his 20's and the janitor was in his mid-60's. But then, Jeremy was an absolutely amazing teacher and individual, who, as you can tell, did not let his ego get in the way of his humanity. He was secure in his masculinity, and didn't need to prove anything to others.

If a man or woman has self-esteem, it doesn't matter what others think. You just strive for your best and you shouldn't feel the need to prove it to others.

I have had other similar occurrences, but I won't bore you guys...

 

[H2Andy]

She is a great wee diver

we have a lot in commong then. i am a great wee wee diver too

well, at least, i was, until i went dry... now i'm a great hold it diver

 

[raposarose]

It's NOT at all funny :angry: I've had problems with "Internet guys" before, although I was most likely not in any danger. Other women have had a lot more than problems. It is a valid concern and something people of both genders should be careful about.
...

Quite true, and if you happen to ever visit the Monterey area for diving then avoid a guy named "Fred S." He passes out a business card that just says "Dive Buddy" on it (in between the leering, etc.).

(Oh, and on the original topic. I just dive with my wife. I'm not into macho aggressive diving, but I do use up air more quickly than her. But I got a steel 100 tank while she uses a steel 80, problem solved.)