Women diver

[Erwin Kodiat]

It's not a statistical, just want to confirm something. Heard from a friend that although mostly the divers in the world are male, however in Japanese mostly female.
Just want to know the real data, if any, and wait for any arguments about it.

 

[kelpmermaid]

Your questions made me wonder, so I looked at PADI's website and found this, at least for the US:

http://www.padi.com/news/stats/10.asp

It would not surprise me to find out that there was a higher percentage of female divers in Japan. After all, the pearl divers were women - yes, I've been to the aquarium in Toba!

 

[art.chick]

In my film distribution class, it was revealed that while most films are marketted to men in the west (because it is presumed that women will be going with men, & the man will ultimately choose the film), in Japan, films are marketted to young, single women, who, with their office jobs, have disposable income & time after work to go together with other office gals to the movies while the men at the office hang out in social places more "appropriate" for men-only.

Perhaps the same is true for single Japanese women in the diving world; perhaps they move independently to persue sport recreations without waiting for a man to sign up with them. We can't necessarily expect to find women who dive for peals in statistics because they may not be certified, so there may be lots more than we think!

 

[Erwin Kodiat]

Unlike in Japan. here in Bali mostly the divers are male. It's not easy to persuade a local (Indonesian) female to go diving (Open Water course). Most likely they have a fearness of being in the deep water.
But again, the Japanese divers (tourist & instructor who stay here for quite a long time) here mostly female.

 

[kelpmermaid]

I didn't mean to obscure the point - the pearl divers were women freedivers. What I meant is that maybe there is a different perspective. Zale Parry (sp?) aside, diving here has a macho image, particularly in colder waters. What if the image isn't a Mediterranean sponge diver, or a military diver?
The disposable income thing has merit, but as we know, the Japanese economy has been in recession for some time. It is easy to get to the south Pacific from there, though...anyone from Japan have any info/theories on this?

 

[kelpmermaid]

Just thinking...do most women know how to swim there? Would modesty prevent them from wanting to appear in public in a bathing suit?

 

[Erwin Kodiat]

I guess you are right, though mostly modern women in Indonesia were sent to a swimming course in early age, but still the legacy (traditional way of thinking) preven them to wear a bathing suit in public. Also the myth about underwater world has significant influence of the way they perceived scuba diving.

 

[anni]

The vast majority of Japanese divers I've seen here in Australia are women.

 

[art.chick]

I have also seen groups of Japanese young adults here with their female instructors, & many of the students were girls, too.

True, Kelpmermaid, the Japanese economy is sadly sagging right now compared to when I took my film classes. The cultural separation of the sexes for after-work recreation may still exist. I would not know first hand as I have not been there. Actually, I think the point about pearl divers is a good one because it goes BEYOND statistics (potentially) to the number of uncounted ladies adding to the dive community as a whole.

Now, I want to hear more about these myths that keep Indonesian women out of the water. Are there old storytellers in the village scaring girls away by claiming that there are film & TV producers out there? That usually keeps me out of certain swimming pools.

 

[Erwin Kodiat]

No, its not specifically for women, but in many Indonesian sub-culture, there is a strong belief that the ocean keeps the big power and they are afraid of that.
Differ with most western culture that allows their children to learn to swim from early age, in Indonesia only the modernized family that sending their children to swimming pool.