Doubtful,it will be the last. Particularly if you should expand your circle of friends outside those who don’t recognize it due to their likeminded correctness.
I’m intrigued as to which of my comments on this thread you regard as “PC” which seems to simply have become a term of abuse to be hurled at anyone you disagree with.
I have not at any point denied that on average men are bigger than women or that “a good big ‘un will usually beat a good little ‘un”, just that without a clear understanding of all the variables, offering anything other than very general advice in an individual case is pretty meaningless.
If it is “PC” to make selections on an objective assessment of individual abilities rather than general assumptions then I guess I am guilty but it works for me. As an example - if I was looking for a companion for a bracing 10 mile plus hike in the hills/mountains used in the UK Special Forces selection process and had to choose from three candidates, a couple being ex-military men in their late 50s or early 60s with approximately 25000 posts between them on an outdoors activity forum the other being a female 82 year old retired school teacher, which would I choose?
The woman managed a similar route last year and the year before so it is not unreasonable to assume that she would be up for it this year. In contrast, AFAIK none of the 25000 forum posts from the other candidates include any evidence of recent hillwalking experience the decision for me would be a no brainer plus a decent day out in the hills would be a more than acceptable substitute present for my mother’s 83rd birthday!
This PC stuff is a minefield though - instead picking the objectively strongest (in the sense of best for the role rather than ability to bench press or deadlift), candidate or should I worry that I might be discriminating against the other candidates on the basis of some underlying physical or mental incapacity and in fact I should be making the proposed route shorter or easier (installing a handrail/stairlift?) to accommodate their “different” abilities.
Apologies if any of this seems “non-PC” but my circle of friends these days mostly consists of 70 plus year old hillfarmers who haven’t been on the PC course yet. FWIW, I have had the privilege of recently working with/learning from a couple of women (one in her 60s) who compete on equal terms with men in hedgelaying, drystone walling, sheepshearing both professionally and in competitions. I don’t judge someone’s ability to wield an axe, chainsaw etc. on the contents of their underwear!
Actually perhaps you didn’t read my whole post. I did say that I was less athletic as a child and thus a bit less “manly” than most other teenage boys. That said, at least I did have the asthma as an excuse; what’s yours?
That men are inherently stronger physically than women is a reality of nature. If you believe nature or reality has changed in the last decades or the it’s different on different continents, you simply deluded yourself with political correctness.
Pretty sure I read every word of your post a couple of times but I’m still not sure what I’m supposed to need an excuse for. Sounds like you had an enjoyable and fulfilling childhood - FWIW when I turned 18 I saved up the airfare and flew to Australia and spent my late teenage backpacking and working as a farm labourer.
Australian shearing sheds and outback bars (think of the one in Crocodile Dundee but without the nice decor) are notorious for their strict rules on political correctness and inevitably having been exposed to all that snowflakery and sensitivity during my formative years some of it rubbed off on me!
Anyway the sun is up, another cracking day in prospect - I’m off to “do”!
