Bushcraft and women

[wicca]

Here's my half baked view on it..: I can see the irony here, because historically and still today in many parts of the world, the women are the real experts in very many aspects of bushcraft. They find and identify wild plant food, make and maintain fire, produce beautiful and practical 'household' goods from natural materials, use any number of cooking methods and in their spare time make personal adornments. They even brew the beer!!! The men, they hunt, fight and sit around smoking and talking about the huntin' and fightin'...(just kidding.. ) but you get my drift I hope? Look at the average 'bushcraft' family in mythical "somewhere" uk and compare it with a Massai family living away from the city.... Ok lads all stand on one leg and lean on yer spears..girls, when's that gazelle gonna be cooked??

 

[hen]

Meant to say, it's good to meet other females who like being female, who don't want or need to be masculine despite what we get up to

cheers,
Toddy

This is so refreshing to hear from other women! A few years ago I realised that I wasn't trying to be a bloke, I was just trying to figure out what being a woman actually meant. I feel more feminine now that I am capable of surviving outdoors, comfortably too, than I ever have.



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Now playing: Dick Gaughan - The Freedom Come-All-Ye
via FoxyTunes

 

[BOD]

.... it's just the conversation that can get a bit too much to bear.

Tholgy, I think many men find stereotypic male conversation too much to bear especially when it turns to sport

 

[silvergirl]

Bushcraft is a female occupation .

Around the world and through history it is the women who know the plants,
how to prepare food and materials and make items useful and generally keep life going

The only "Bushcraft" course (Bushcraft in the title as opposed to foraging, greenwoodworking, ID etc) most of the participants were female. Everyone one just mucked in.

I reckon just as many women are interested in 'Bushcraft' as men are not interested in football (which is quite a lot).

 

[PJMCBear]

Glothy, I think many men find stereotypic male conversation too much to bear especially when it turns to sport

Yeah, I'm one of them and don't get me started on conversations about cars, in the middle of a forest, whilst sat around the bush TV. Why, why?!

 

[StJon]

Hi Tholgy,
a lot of what we do as bushcrafters (if thats what we are?) is seen by western society as being feminine, cooking, crafts, appreciation of nature, etc. I find that when I'm in the woods I throw off the matcho sterotype things and get in touch with my softer, slower more feminine side and I'm sure most of the "blokes" do as well. Don't worry about whether there will be woman on the course just get out there and do it, or go to any of the meets.
jon

 

[william#]

if you don't want to be stereotyped then don't be a stereotype.

also avoid any latent stereo typical prejudices you have.

we can all fall into them no matter how hard we try male or female. This forces a person either into a perceived or actual stereotypical role who then has to accept it or push against it.
can we not just get on with are thing then all have a few beers later ?

i feel we should aim at not drawing a line in any way with gender and an activity (so the name of this thread is divisive of the sexes straight away).

don't get me wrong im not flying the flag for either side.i just dont like having to act in a certain expected way due to my gender.

oh yes and sometimes i do
lol

 

[Sniper]

Yes John but you could do without the eyelashes and lipstick with those stilletos ducky!

 

[mittenz]

Last meet i went to i was the only girl i didn't notice lol cos i really didn't think much of it they were a cracking bunch, i had tons of fun and learnt loads.

I haven't gone on a course yet but if i did and i was the only gal i doubt it would bother me.

 

[firecrest]

Last meet i went to i was the only girl i didn't notice lol cos i really didn't think much of it they were a cracking bunch, i had tons of fun and learnt loads.

I haven't gone on a course yet but if i did and i was the only gal i doubt it would bother me.

Yeah last midlands meet there was only me and two other women (I think) round the fire there was only two of us. I think there is more this time though , its swings and roundabouts.
They all went to bed early. softies !

 

[drewdunnrespect]

Tholgy, I think many men find stereotypic male conversation too much to bear especially when it turns to sport

bod the problem with what you said is that the only deceant sport is totty watching and how can you get bored of that if your are male like us?

ladies dont be offended because i know that is very male thing to say but its true having woman in the woods with you makes it so more interesting because they normally are better at it than us men. Why because they are capable of doing more than one thing at once and well men typically arnt. Having said that there are some men who are brilliant at bushcraft along with you women.

Then again my mates mum allways says if your a woman there is one rule you must remmeber at all times if its got b**ll**ks or wheels and an engine you will have nothing but trouble with it so be prapered.

Drew dunn

 

[nomade]

I am still in the process of reading every post on this thread but here is my reaction so far:
I am a girl and I have been astonished for years to find how few women there were on bushcraft and survival Internet sites in general. Never found an explanation. Noone seems to have one. I also often find men who say their other half doesn't join them out there. The explanation in this cas is often that she can't do without a daily hot shower and such reasons or that she minds creepy crawlies. I was always surprised at all that. I find that bushcraft has really very many feminine side to it.

I don't mind the group being called "guys" because this is usually how people areferred to in all groups. I find the word quite warm and friendly

 

[andywinkk]

We let women come along to do the dishes dont we ?? lol

Welcom

 

[hen]

I am still in the process of reading every post on this thread but here is my reaction so far:
I am a girl and I have been astonished for years to find how few women there were on bushcraft and survival Internet sites in general. Never found an explanation. Noone seems to have one. I also often find men who say their other half doesn't join them out there. The explanation in this cas is often that she can't do without a daily hot shower and such reasons or that she minds creepy crawlies. I was always surprised at all that. I find that bushcraft has really very many feminine side to it.

I don't mind the group being called "guys" because this is usually how people areferred to in all groups. I find the word quite warm and friendly

I'm not at all sure, but I think it might come down to conditioning. The general perception of bushcraft as survival techniques and a masculine 'hobby' doesn't help either.

 

[crazydave]

old style survival skills back in the 80's when we were all expected to be irradiated probably had a lot more women involved I reckon than the current bushcraft trend as it was based around the home and local enviroments with the emphasis on bug in rather than bug out.

there was an awfull lot of make do and mend, improvising, jam making, leather tanning basket weaving type of stuff.

a bloke seems to need a fancy handmade knife, fancy clothes and titanium whereas a woman will take what works for her like a duffel coat, kitchen knife and a milk pan and do just as well.

women are wired different which is just as well, hunter gather communities would have died out long ago if the women didn't stay at home and feed the kids. the blokes were probably better off out of the camp and it probably started with the women telling them to run off and kill something just to get them out of the way.

a bloke will insist on chopping down a tree for firewood but a woman will go walkabout and tidy up the area of ground wood instead. a woman will use corn and yeast to make bread, a bloke will make beer.

and so on...

hen - regards another thread my missus used to have a pair of desert combats from the first gulf which she died purple. still hard wearing, muck friendly and more importantly a female cut so it might be worth looking in surplus shops or ebay as army trousers and jackets are sized with more options so you might see trousers with 78/98/88 which is waist/hips/leg length the shirts are also cut for bust sizes

 

[WoodWildling]

women are wired different which is just as well, hunter gather communities would have died out long ago if the women didn't stay at home and feed the kids. the blokes were probably better off out of the camp and it probably started with the women telling them to run off and kill something just to get them out of the way.

Hehe that is so true, from a female perspective, I think men need to always be doing something exciting, as illustrated by a course i attended a while back. I was the only female most of the time and we were given the task of making cordage
Anyway after about 1 metre most of the blokes had given up and were itching to do something else, but I ended up making nearly 7 metres of the blo*dy stuff!
I think women are better at the more crafty side of things, but I'm sure there are overlaps with both sexes

 

[xylaria]

Tholgy, I think many men find stereotypic male conversation too much to bear especially when it turns to sport

Crikey you should try a stereotypic women's conversation, obsessiveness about looks, sugaring, rolfing (?), diets, soap operas, celebs, diets, whinging about blokes how much they weigh this week, and more dieting. Emptiness on shallowest level, and no love for life. I prefer to talk football, woodwork, cars anything other than the stereotypical woman's conversation.

Bushcraft has no gender, it a hobby. I like carving needles, the activity doesn't have gender, i needed a specially shaped needle to learn to nalbind, so I made one. I liked making it so a made another and another. Hunter-gather lifestyles pose an interesting point, women generally do the gathering and men do the hunting. Having played quite a few team sports when younger I do feel the more male brained female is better at team sports. Sports like soccer bare similarities in playing systems that can be seen in primitive hunting. Women of child baring age feel the cold more than men, which is one reason why some women don't camp out, but it also a reason how our ancestors managed to live on edge of the ice sheets. The women that woke up in night because of cold had children that survived. I feel in-built gender differences are there and they are very interesting , but they are barely important to the common run of skills. Blokes can gather, women can hunt, men can look after the kids, anybody can knit, carve, chop, skin, gut, and everyone should able light should a fire and carry their own gear. In my humble opinion of course.

 

[Tadpole]

Women gathered and were more successful at it because they were less goal orientated, they hardly ever focus 100% on the one objective, to the exclusion of all others. When men go a hunting, they focus on the hunt, to the exclusion of everything else, they may in fact walk past game that is plentiful in the hunting of their chosen quarry.
When women go a gathering, they may set out for berries, but they will stop to collect mushrooms and other herbs on the way, their eyes and brain are more attuned to looking for other things as well as their quarry. Give most men the task of picking blackberries, and that is what most men will return with, despite standing under apple trees laden with fruit, most will not think about picking apples.

It is possible to train your mind to think differently, but you have to want to, and practice.

Just my humble observations.

 

[Jimcatt]

Ha-ha, my sister and her husband run corporate 7 day walking bush trek safaris for up-to 20 at a time, one day induction/assessment/training , in her opinion 75% of the guys are Wimps, the other 25% Rambo Wannabe’s.... as for the ladies, once they get past "chipped nail syndrome and where is the ladies room" 95 % turn into Jungle Jane's....

 

[Cobweb]

I'm a lady as well
I agree that most bushcrafting activities could be seen by other cultures as feminine rather than masculine, but who cares?!

The meets I've been to have at least one other lady there apart from me, and I've encountered no more sexism than I do at work
(which is probably more than you would get in an office. My job is seen by the older male members of society as a male pursuit, it tends to come in the form of talking over me, ignoring my views on photography and the typical, 'I know more than you do about photography' look I get from any male over the age of 35. I don't care any more, it used to bug the hell out of me, but I just take satisfaction in my work and simply let them pass on their way now )

Welcome to the site and feel free to ask anything, everyone is lovely here.