What women want?

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TheRedHead:
Thanks. That is very kind of you.
You are very welcome. As I said before - if I can I'm always willing to help or share my female experience.

TheRedHead:
But when they strap on the AL 80 deco cylinder, it's tough.
This is why I put them in the water rather than on the boat.

TheRedHead:
Men don't talk about the difficulty in public.
Depends. I know some that are openly admitting having problems with their back and using trolleys.
TheRedHead:
One of the DMs had to pull me up by the manifold. It was so embarrassing. Made me hate being "the weaker sex."
I don't think it was embarassing. If tanks are heavy then I see no problem asking for help to get up. Or to climb the ladder. Sometimes the solution is to take the gear off in the water and have boat crew fish it out of the water for you.
TheRedHead:
If the water is calm, I'll remove my mask to my neck while waiting at the tag line to board the boat on the pretense of getting hair out of my face, which of course, means holding one's nose, dipping head back and quickly brushing off the boogies while my head is under water.

Now as for the mask - I never take it off before I get on the boat. While waiting on the line many things may happen so you should have your maks on and your regulator in your mouth. Especially when it's in the sea. One unexpected current and you are ripped off the line. So I would rather sacrify my look rather than my safety.

Mania
PS. The remark abour nail polish from the other thread was removed by AnnMarie. I cannot use my MOD powers in the thread I started and reported. But I have agreed with AnnMarie that this should be done.
 
WOW, an impressive 160 posts to my original enquiry so far, so a huge thank you from me to everyone who has posted.

The on-going debate has been interesting and humorous, and some have even answered the question. You all already seemingly have a substantial amount of diving experience so I think that is perhaps distorting the general motivation of my question which is more aligned to introducing a lecture on specific women’s issues to entry level courses or by perhaps introducing a speciality scuba experience somewhere around advanced diver level.

Yes, many of you are quite right in that there is very little substantiated evidence to suggest that women are at any higher risk of ADI for example (in fact I believe women are at lower risk in a real world), but that doesn't stop the question being asked time and time again (and many others like it) thereby making me ask whether women (and men) would be better served by Instructors discussing these topics and perhaps at least dispelling the concerns that surround them. To my knowledge, education on these topics is sorely missing from typical scuba curriculum’s but perhaps that is more to do with dive associations educating their Instructors…

I am certainly going to start offering the service myself anyway as I believe there is a need for this by some. If the idea doesn't appeal to you, then that's perfectly fine, you've probably already researched and found the answers to your concerns the hard way (I'm sure you must've all questioned the same things at some point?). So for those that would find the topic to be of value, I am simply trying to establish the common and/or unique list of concerns you might each have or had during your initial introduction to our wonderful world of diving.

It is clearly impossible to please all the people all the time, so reading through all your comments and thoughts has been a valuable exercise in seeing the things some of you want and some of you don’t. Somewhere in between should be a valuable compromise that might appeal to most?

With tremendous thanks and kind regards
Dennis
 
I'd just like to add that those with long hair.... get a hair glove!! I had really long hair until xmas. I donated 14 inches to wig-for-kids. But I used to wear one of these to keep my hair neat, and in the braid. It won't fall out with one of these on!! I ordered a 12 in. You'll probably have to call them to get one.

http://www.hairglove.com/Action.htm

--Heather.
 
hnladue:
I'd just like to add that those with long hair.... get a hair glove!! I had really long hair until xmas. I donated 14 inches to wig-for-kids. But I used to wear one of these to keep my hair neat, and in the braid. It won't fall out with one of these on!! I ordered a 12 in. You'll probably have to call them to get one.

http://www.hairglove.com/Action.htm

--Heather.

Great link Heather. Thanks. Very good thread~~
 
I've read most of this thread... but I will admit I haven't caught up with ALL of the postings... so please forgive me if I repeat something someone else has said.

I've organized a number of women only learn to dive group trips. So my point of view is informed by my experience with those groups.

First, when we have discussion like this, generalizations are made... that's necessary in order to manage all of the information -- And, with any generalization - not ALL women are like that or not ALL men some other way... I think that is probably one of the biggest reasons why I would support a program for women -- NOT because women CAN'T learn with men.... but, rather, some women might prefer a single sex group... and I like the idea of each of us being able to get what we want in the way we want it... If you look at my profile, you'll see that I am DEFINITELY NOT a one size fits all kinda chick.

Now, in terms of specifics -- I have worked with a number of women, who, before trying scuba weren't particularly athletic. During their learning process they had all kinds of experiences about what it actually felt like to use their bodies in an athletic way. Having those discussions with other women was very supportive and encouraging. There are also some diving styles that seem to be more common for women than men, and vice versa... not ALL men and women... but, it can be helpful to have those discussions. Sometimes, in a male dominated environment, the voices of women don't get heard.

I once worked with a woman who was a newly certified diver. Her husband and military buddies were also certified and more experienced than she was. She was intimidated about her lack of knowledge, experience and her questions. The men were impatient with her. After one diving attempt with the men, she was ready to give up. She went diving with me -- one morning, two dives.... She asked all of her questions, we discussed them.... if I didn't know an answer we talked about ow to find the answer. I gave her a few pointers on form. I pointed out what she was doing well, and what she could expect to improve with experience. By the end of the day, she felt ready to go back and stand her own as a new, novice, but appropriately competent diver with her husband and friends.

There was another woman who had a few dives, 25 or 30, I think, and had maybe taken the AOW... But other than her training dives, her husband had been her only buddy. He was very supportive and nurturing and took great care of her. She was very nervous because she wasn't sure if she could do this sport on her own... if her husband wasn't right by her side. I spent a morning with her -- she did everything on her own... I helped her double check herself for safety. She participated in the dive plan, she helped with navigation, she did GREAT! When we surfaced, she said she had never been more relaxed. She had the opportunity to demonstrate to herself that she was a fine diver.

Also, I know that SOME women feel uncomfortable asking questions in front of men... and yes, the men probably need to hear those answers too... but if the women are too uncomfortable asking, nobody gets the information.

And, yes, I have been with some women who are very catty and competitive with other women... that has been the minority of my experiences.

I think that women CAN learn and do anything the men can. And, some women are perfectly comfortable in a male dominated environment. There are other women who do better in a situation geared toward women. Soooooo, I'm strongly for the 'different strokes for different folks' perspective.


And, by the way, Catherine? When can we go to Molokai????


Liz

Oh, and for the record... I put my long hair in a pony tail and then put it up in a barrett on the back of my head. My mask strap goes OVER the barrett and keeps my mask from slipping. Fresh water rinse, a little conditioner, if available... and I'm good to go.
 
Great post, ladycute!
 
chickdiver:
I'm about as "girlie" as it gets for a female tech diver. Until recently I had really long hair- I get weekly manicures and monthly pedicures. The guys at the shop used to find it quite amusing (and humbling) when I walked in in carrying 104's- while wearing 3.5" stiletto heels....
ChickDiver,

I was telling one of my guy friends who's a tech instructor about this thread and the female tech diver who carries her doubles in the shop wearing the 3.5" stiletto heels!

His response was, "Seriously my kind of woman!":D

I also have a very good friend who used to be a female tech instuctor in the late 90's. She iss also pretty girlie - used to work for MAC, for quite a while, a number of years before the tech instructor phase of her life.

There's no reason why you can't look good and still hold your own in this sport! In fact, the male divers that I know seem to really like a co-ed environment!:eyebrow:
 
ladycute1:
Soooooo, I'm strongly for the 'different strokes for different folks' perspective.

Hi Liz:
Good post. I strongly agree.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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