How to encourage diversity in bushcraft

[Broch]

It's the bit about "nothing for less than £100" that worried me - there's no mention of considering the culture that exists in rural life and 'fitting in' - but to be honest, that is true for many groups of people of all backgrounds that decide to venture into the countryside.

 

[CLEM]

How depressing indeed.
Is this not separation & preferential favouritism.
I for one am completely against it.
The outdoors are for all, not just for one group of people.
There are no answers when things like this go on &
I’m growing very tired & questioning by own morals & beliefs.

I think you’d be maybe wrong if you didn’t start to question your moral beliefs at this point friend. I really do.

Mr Broch summed it up very succinctly early on in this thread with one word “ tiresome”

 

[CLEM]

It's the bit about "nothing for less than £100" that worried me - there's no mention of considering the culture that exists in rural life and 'fitting in' - but to be honest, that is true for many groups of people of all backgrounds that decide to venture into the countryside.

Bang on the mark once again.

 

[Jared]

Always dislike how the subject is presented in the mainstream media.
All it seems to take is someone from a minority demographic to organise and form a group, and away they go.

 

[MrEd]

It's the bit about "nothing for less than £100" that worried me - there's no mention of considering the culture that exists in rural life and 'fitting in' - but to be honest, that is true for many groups of people of all backgrounds that decide to venture into the countryside.


This is exactly spot on.

EDIT: I don’t know why my quote went weird

 

[Suffolkrafter]

Well until reading this thread I'd never really thought of myself as a white middle aged male. But I'm white, I am male and come to think of it I'm not sure I can claim I'm anything other than middle aged. If this thread triggers a midlife crisis I hold the forum fully responsible. Wait a minute, I got into 'bushcraft' not all that long ago.... maybe it's too late...

 

[TeeDee]

Well until reading this thread I'd never really thought of myself as a white middle aged male. But I'm white, I am male and come to think of it I'm not sure I can claim I'm anything other than middle aged. If this thread triggers a midlife crisis I hold the forum fully responsible. Wait a minute, I got into 'bushcraft' not all that long ago.... maybe it's too late...

I used to drink Coke-Cola until I was informed I was too White.

( Now on a Pepsi prescription )

 

[JonathanD]

I used to drink Coke-Cola until I was informed I was too White.

( Now on a Pepsi prescription )

I think a lot of people are on the same prescription now.

 

[Stew]

One of the things I’m curious about is what the non-white non-male population do. There are so many areas that are seemingly dominated by white men that I do wonder as to how time is filled.

 

[CLEM]

I think a lot of people are on the same prescription now.

I know I am

 

[Robbi]

I used to drink Coke-Cola until I was informed I was too White.

( Now on a Pepsi prescription )

I don't understand

 

[TeeDee]

I don't understand

I'll send you something Robbi.

 

[Tengu]

You will all be glad to hear I have expanded my imperialist ambitions and learned to drink Irn-bru.

(If I had to spend £100 on each bit of kit then I wouldn't be here)

 

[Suffolkrafter]

I've given it all some thought over the course of the day, and have no answers and am none the wiser. But I can't think of a less exclusionary activity than bushcraft given that for many people I suspect it involves; watching YouTube, solitary trips to the woods, reading and studying plant and tree ID, watching YouTube some more, window shopping on the internet, and spending a bit of time on forums where people are largely anonymous.
So I guess any issues are far broader, such as physical access to countryside. Perhaps trends, habits and fashions play a part too. I just don't know. But if the worst were true and we were a bunch of exclusionary types, then why wouldn't there be alternative groups out there, such as mostly female bushcraft communities, or other minorities etc?
Compared to other activities and areas of life I've been involved in, the bushcraft community, particularly on this forum, seems very chilled out and welcoming.

 

[Suffolkrafter]

I used to drink Coke-Cola until I was informed I was too White.

( Now on a Pepsi prescription )

I was a bit baffled by this until I did a bit of googling and now I know what you mean. It's all a bit much. I have sudden urge to turn off phone and computer and lose myself in plant books or just go outside. Reminds me of why I enjoy the natural world. It just makes more sense than the human world.

 

[Jared]

Think the answer is just take kids more out into the outdoors, particularly kids in cities.

My mother was a primary school (almost 100% white) teacher's aid and had stories about children not knowing where milk came from, or what a cow looked like.

In general think we should be bombarding kids with a wide variety of experiences, just to see what interests them and sticks.

Even when I was in high school had classes segregated by sex. Woodworking for boy, whilst they girls learnt typing (on then soon to be virtually extinct mechanical typewriters). Whilst there are natural differences between the sexes, there is no need to amplify them to that extent.

 

[Robson Valley]

Some groups of people are just more comfortable with similars and maybe a little structured environment. Here, there's been a whole women's world of outdoor skills training weeks developed over the years. Bushcraft right up to archery and handloading rifle cartridges. Always wait lists, always fully subscribed. Fact is, more women are hunting and fishing than ever before.

I see you have a couple of obstacles that you just can't ignore.

One is a dense population. I can drive for 100km and nobody at all lives there.
This, I can't see as fixable in any way. Does this introduce any pronounced wear and tear on your landscape that ruins the reason that you went there in the first place?

Second is open access to crown land that doesn't belong to some hoity-toity.
How can you encourage more land owners to allow some benign and non-consumptive activity? Here, you park off the highway someplace and waltz off into the forest. It's ours to enjoy.

Some really strange rules in a list too long for me to add up.

 

[Robbi]

I'll send you something Robbi.

Dear god.! I never knew anything like that existed.... What do we do now.?

 

[TeeDee]

Some groups of people are just more comfortable with similars and maybe a little structured environment. Here, there's been a whole women's world of outdoor skills training weeks developed over the years. Bushcraft right up to archery and handloading rifle cartridges. Always wait lists, always fully subscribed. Fact is, more women are hunting and fishing than ever before.

Would a Man be able to attend that?

 

[TLM]

I used to drink Coke-Cola until I was informed I was too White.

Too white (whatever that really means) and not woke enough or a member of the alphabet soup.