walking in safety, free from fear
Following on from the previous post...
My freedom to walk in the wilds exists only so long as I can find someone to adequately care for my cows but it *does* exist.
It's not shot down because DOC employees attempt to dissuade me because the weather is too poor, the tracks too rough, the weather too violent (and they do do that).
It's not shot down because I can't leave a 'declaration of intention' with anyone I know without them hyperventilating until they hear that I'm safely back in civilisation.
It's not shot down because well-meaning friends tell me not to go, or because people I meet in the bush invariably ask where the rest of my group is.
The years of being informed that bad men are hiding behind every bush and bad things happen to girls who walk alone didn't stifle the desire to be alone and to know the wild places.
Experience thus far has shown that I'm safer alone with no one for miles around than in a crowd, or among people that I know.
Reality tells me that being almost alone, with one capable bushman in the vicinity intent on harming me, would be as dangerous as dating a guy and going back to his house.
*As* dangerous. Not *more* dangerous. Yet one is acceptable behaviour, the other is not. It is very rare to see a woman alone in the mountains and bush.
I'm not sure how to understand being trapped in the 'safe', civilised places. I know my parents and teachers tried to trap me thus, as a child, that kindly women and friends and everyone basically still try to prevent my excursions away.
I couldn't do the job I'm doing, if I were scared of the guys hiding in the bushes. Reality, again, is that as a female I'm vulnerable at work, I'm vulnerable in my home and I'm vulnerable when I travel, and when I walk in the National Parks, when I strip off to splash in a cold mountain stream with no way of knowing or checking who is nearby. For a woman targetted by a violent man or men, there is no protection in most places. I don't see it as a reason to stop doing the things I enjoy.
There is enough choice taken from women. This freedom I claim.
As women move into traditionally male jobs, they have to face that vulnerability. It's part and parcel of doing what men have freely done for centuries - travelling unescorted, meeting strange men, being seen outside the home.
I don't quite know how to approach this issue when I learn that so many strong women - not only the ones I know in real life - feel unable to claim that freedom for themselves in the world that is undeniably dangerous no matter what you do or don't do.
My freedom to walk in the wilds exists only so long as I can find someone to adequately care for my cows but it *does* exist.
It's not shot down because DOC employees attempt to dissuade me because the weather is too poor, the tracks too rough, the weather too violent (and they do do that).
It's not shot down because I can't leave a 'declaration of intention' with anyone I know without them hyperventilating until they hear that I'm safely back in civilisation.
It's not shot down because well-meaning friends tell me not to go, or because people I meet in the bush invariably ask where the rest of my group is.
The years of being informed that bad men are hiding behind every bush and bad things happen to girls who walk alone didn't stifle the desire to be alone and to know the wild places.
Experience thus far has shown that I'm safer alone with no one for miles around than in a crowd, or among people that I know.
Reality tells me that being almost alone, with one capable bushman in the vicinity intent on harming me, would be as dangerous as dating a guy and going back to his house.
*As* dangerous. Not *more* dangerous. Yet one is acceptable behaviour, the other is not. It is very rare to see a woman alone in the mountains and bush.
I'm not sure how to understand being trapped in the 'safe', civilised places. I know my parents and teachers tried to trap me thus, as a child, that kindly women and friends and everyone basically still try to prevent my excursions away.
I couldn't do the job I'm doing, if I were scared of the guys hiding in the bushes. Reality, again, is that as a female I'm vulnerable at work, I'm vulnerable in my home and I'm vulnerable when I travel, and when I walk in the National Parks, when I strip off to splash in a cold mountain stream with no way of knowing or checking who is nearby. For a woman targetted by a violent man or men, there is no protection in most places. I don't see it as a reason to stop doing the things I enjoy.
There is enough choice taken from women. This freedom I claim.
As women move into traditionally male jobs, they have to face that vulnerability. It's part and parcel of doing what men have freely done for centuries - travelling unescorted, meeting strange men, being seen outside the home.
I don't quite know how to approach this issue when I learn that so many strong women - not only the ones I know in real life - feel unable to claim that freedom for themselves in the world that is undeniably dangerous no matter what you do or don't do.
posted by sophie | 12:49 AM
2 Comments:
Maybe in New Zealand you occasionally see little ads in stores: "Wanted, occasional babysitter for 60 well-behaved Holsteins". It must be difficult. Perhaps farming friends help each other.
As the saying doesn't exactly go, "They travel fastest who travel alone". You can enjoy sharing a walk with a friend, or friends, but there's a selfish pleasure in doing it on your own, never having to find something to say about what you're seeing or having to give your attention to another person. OTOH we must let the officials give their speech; they're the ones who end up sending out the rescue teams. So let's be careful walkers.
Is there not a tramping (right NZ word?) organization where you live? They usually seem to be pretty good at respecting everyone, and always seem to have a lot of women leaders. Still, you can't walk (hike, tramp) with them and have it be a totally personal experience.
Hey, are there any hot springs near where you live? That would really make a hike worth doing.
My apologies for the miserable male gender. I suppose there are some things that no woman can ever quite forget.
Hey - I thought you were a New Zealander?
There are tramping clubs all over the place, and I have friends now who are keen trampers, but I've been doing this since I was a little kid, defying my parents' rules and unable to find anyone else stupid enough to brave the mud, the weather and the lack of shops.
You get addicted tramping solo.
As for 'near' me - I wouldn't have posted those photos if they were local. I don't know of any hot pools in the close vicinity, but I've walked routes in the Tongariro National Park, Coromandel &c - most steam producers are on private land and can only be gazed at, but every once in a while you find a hot stream, or an accessible thermal area. For spectacular, the Tongariro Crossing is quite something.
Must try that ad in the dairy sometime -'cept it's rather more than sixty, and they're not Holsteins (but they are well-behaved. Except for the bulls.)
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