why women don't dive?

[lostinspace]

ps as for gear being heavy - isnt that what husbands are for?!

 

[humdiver]

up here in the cold waters on northern california no not San Fran im talking mendocino county with surge no boats and kelp forests my girlfriends think im out to impress the boys on contratry i find young men put off by young women with the independence to dive. yet my man loves it !! i do hate the ultra thick wetsuts worn in layers and will be going dry very soon.
as far as getting other people to do it i have my own theory.some people espessialy prissy women are happy to walk on this earth letting the air fill thier lungs and look responsible but when you don your gear and go down one is completely in control of thier life and death thats a big responsibility for some one who thinks thier decision of the year was what color hand bag to buy for the fall season. some people simply cant imagine being responsible for every move they make. there is no one to blame down there but your self and some people alot of people go through thier whole lives not being responsible for thier actions.
If they arent called to diving then dont keep calling but....
take someone hesitant snorkeling and you may find the diver in them!!
in the mean time go dive with the boys nothing should slow you down most definatly a land lubbing man!~! :11ztongue

 

[NauticalbutNice]

I'm one of only 4 lady (well...girl :laughing: ) divers in my area. I've asked a lot of friends if they want to come and join and a lot of them are:

1) Too scared (Scottish Water too cold, what if I drown, I'm not fit enough...etc.)
2) Too embarrassed (I don't want to be seen with a drysuit on...)

To be frank, the fear is what spurs me on - I think it's good to be aware of the risks and to know what your getting yourself in for. But I love it. I love it all! :scubadive:

And I don't care how I look in a drysuit. Ok so I'm never going to win an award for "Best in Drysuit" but at least I'm warm (all that extra...um...flesh comes in handy! :cheering: ). But skinnier girls than me are too embarrassed to try. I think they also worry about hair getting mussed up, no make up etc.

I guess it comes down to confidence - in yourself, in the people you will dive with, and in your buddy.

And for some reason women (Where I am at least) don't have that.

NauticalbutNice :fruit:

 

[ASUPaula]

Hmmm - these are the same reasons I hear from guys who are not interested in diving. Most of my guy friends are not divers, either....

Well said!

 

[TekDiveGirl]

ps as for gear being heavy - isnt that what husbands are for?!

Ayyyyyyyyeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nononononono!!!!!

Actually one of my pet peeves has always has been women who don't carry their own gear! The girls who show up to class and flutter their eyes and expect the guys to schlep their tanks for them and whine because they are toooo heavy. What did they expect it to be? Valet SCUBA?

Athough one I may have to get over now that I have had this brain surgery - at least for a little while. My surgeon says I may have to have some weight limitations in what I carry. I will be able to carry single tanks, but my doubles with stages may be an issue - I will have to hit the gym and work on a lot of strength training. He won't give me a weight limit but says I will not be able to lift anything in the future that strains me.

Right now I have strict limitations but then I am only 5 weeks out of surgery. No lifting for 3 months period. Then a step by step program working my way back...

If I want to dive anytime soon I will have to have somebody carry my tanks and that will suck. But it is what I would have to do. And honeslty as I haven't been diving in far too long I would do it. Oh but it sure would probably chap my hide! (-;

Kimber

 

[ewong]

Let me throw this to the discussion, why are most people who fish, men? I heard of a thesis that says that there is an anthropological predisposition for each of the sexes for certain activities. If you go back to the caveman era, men were the ones who hunted, fished, explored, chased and fought animals/other men; women were the ones taking care of the children. This happened for millions of years, it's embedded somehow in our brains and in society. That is also the reason why men are better at physical tasks and focusing at one task (specializing); and women are better at multitasking or organizing (I'm talking about tendencies, not absolute rules).

When did attitudes toward women start to change? Beginning of the 20th century. So put that in context.

I'm not saying that it will take millions of years, but it'll take some time, but hopefully not too long ... it depends a great deal on society, in more open societies you'll see more women. In a sense it's our fault too (men), we've been relegating women to be at home for thousands of years

My 2 cents,


Eddy.

 

[Nehallenia]

Let me throw this to the discussion, why are most people who fish, men? I heard of a thesis that says that there is an anthropological predisposition for each of the sexes for certain activities. If you go back to the caveman era, men were the ones who hunted, fished, explored, chased and fought animals/other men; women were the ones taking care of the children. This happened for millions of years, it's embedded somehow in our brains and in society. That is also the reason why men are better at physical tasks and focusing at one task (specializing); and women are better at multitasking or organizing (I'm talking about tendencies, not absolute rules).



Eddy.

the division of labour was actually, men hunting/fishing, and women gathering berries, nuts, firewood, water, insects (to eat), looking after the children and defending the immediate home territory. An image I will never forget was one I saw in a human ecology text, a woman in a village somewhere in an African country, with a jar of water the size of an apple barrel on her shoulder - her powerful shoulder, connected to her powerfully muscled arm, on her tall, elegant, graceful, strong body. The "original" divison of labour also supposedly accounts for the difference in how women and men "map" their worlds - men map in general directions (like N,S,E,W) and women map objects in relation to one another (turn left at the big tree, walk to the mountain with 3 peaks, across the road from the red house, etc.). This had to do with how far they travelled in their daily tasks, and how specific they had to be to find things (the wildebeest grazing area, the patch of berry bushes). Women also have much better and finer colour discrimination, and are much less prone to genetic colour blindness - it was important to be able to discriminate between the edible berry and the poison berry.

Men are bigger and stronger than women because of the existence of war - not to protect the family and social group from other animals, but to protect us from other people.

And just for the record, despite the fact that I am small, I carry my own gear. I have hauled 8 foot lengths of hardwood out of the woods, while carrying my 20 lb. toddler in a backpack on my back. Women don't need men to carry heavy stuff, or to protect us from wild beasts - we need them to protect us from other men. Sad.

 

[lostinspace]

Kimber - sorry to pull your chain!
I was only joking!

Of course, if a big strong man offers or wants to carry my heavy tanks for me, then why the hell shouldnt he?! At the same time, I am more than capable of struggling (sorry - couldnt resist) I am more than capable of carrying my tank by myself.

Although I will admit that having broken my shoulder and collarbone and having no tendons or ligaments attaching my right arm to my shoulder, and simply relying on muscles to keep it in place, I will gladly accept offers of help. I tread a fine line with my shoulder strength - too much strain stops me from using it for another year, too little means there is not enough muscle mass to keep using it. :-(

 

[TekDiveGirl]

Kimber - sorry to pull your chain!
I was only joking!

Of course, if a big strong man offers or wants to carry my heavy tanks for me, then why the hell shouldnt he?! At the same time, I am more than capable of struggling (sorry - couldnt resist) I am more than capable of carrying my tank by myself.

Although I will admit that having broken my shoulder and collarbone and having no tendons or ligaments attaching my right arm to my shoulder, and simply relying on muscles to keep it in place, I will gladly accept offers of help. I tread a fine line with my shoulder strength - too much strain stops me from using it for another year, too little means there is not enough muscle mass to keep using it. :-(

I admit there are times when we need to take help. Like I said above with my surgery - if I am going to dive - I am going to have to take help. If I carry tanks now - I will be injuring my surgery site and goodness knows where I will be. I am not willing to take that risk Absolutely we should take help when we need to. If you have an injury that would be made worse by lifting tanks - then absolutely get the help. There is no reason to be macho and hurt yourself.

It is the females who come to the world of diving with the expectation that the men will carry their gear just becase they are women that irritate me. There is no reason the average woman can not carry the average dive setup. If there is - she needs to get herself to the gym before she gets into the water.

As you can tell you just got one of my everlasting pet peeves!!! (-:

Kimber

 

[lostinspace]

It is the females who come to the world of diving with the expectation that the men will carry their gear just becase they are women that irritate me.

LOL - me too! Although that is when it is amusing to watch the princesses try and climb up the ladders onto the dive boat after a dive.....