Gender differential

[forestgnome]

Hmmmm... 35 years ago, on my first "big" hike, a week backpacking alone, I ran into a few people ( most of the time, I saw no one).. Funny, I remember their names. Therre were two guys, Gord & Scotty, and the next day, I met a woman, alone, Kerry. I never thought anything about seeing a woman hiking alone at the time..... and I never did, until more recently, when I hear people talking about it as if it is something special.

IMO, there are definately more women hiking alone or with other women in the White Mts. these days, and it's great to see. I particularly remember the woman on Caps Ridge Trail well because she was very freindly as she asked about conditions on the summit. Her love of the mountains and the WMNF was obvious. OK, she was also quite attractive, and her asian accent was kinda cute. She was just a memorable person, simple as that.

 

[jmegillon149]

im a male, probably pretty obvious from the avatar

its funny, I wondered why gender was not available in profiles, as with many other web sites, forums, whatever you want to call it, I guess I like to know what people are, as the more you know about someone, the more "real" they become, much like if I knew someone's age. This is especially true when asking advice, I can personally put more stock in advice if I know the source. Kind of why I will always use a picture of myself as my avatar, though the current one may get changed since Eric Savage says I look fat in it (course I've gained an additional 20 pounds since then )

This may also be why I tend to use this site for information, perspectives and entertainment, but don't go on the trips and events page ever, and instead do most of my hiking with people from a different group I belong to that is more age (predominantly in their 20's, 30's) and location (most of us are from New Hampshire, especially the Manch-Portsmouth areas), though not gender specific. Nothing against anyone, but I feel that as single male in his late 20's that I relate better to people my own age, as there is a better chance of having had similiar exeriences growing up, being at similiar career and life stages, liking the same movies and music, all that good stuff!

So all in all, gender is probably less relevant than other unshared information such as age, marital status, where one grew up, stuff like that!

I've actually seen formus where they list demographic stats - average age, gender, location - of the community's population, I'd be curious to see something like that!

 

[carole]

I find it interesting that quite a few added their screen name to ‘gender doesn’t matter’ in the poll but either state in their post their gender or make it quite clear in this or other threads. One is either male or female or they wish to keep that to themselves thus the ‘gender doesn’t matter’ option.

Anyhow, a question is only as good as the responses. Definitely some interesting responses. And interesting to find out that some are male or female that I wasn’t aware of previously.

 

[skiguy]

I find it interesting that quite a few added their screen name to ‘gender doesn’t matter’ in the poll but either state in their post their gender or make it quite clear in this or other threads. One is either male or female or they wish to keep that to themselves thus the ‘gender doesn’t matter’ option.

I voted for the gender does'nt matter category but I would think that my gender can be detremined by my screen name. I think that Woody48 sums it up best for me why I voted gender doesn't matter.

When I first saw the poll question I thought it was just a question to check on the demographics of VFTT. Gender doesn't really matter here on line because if I can't immediately tell the gender of the person posting, it is the question or information given that is important. As for meeting in person, male or female doesn't matter. There are solid hikers and climbers on this board and that seems to be the primary interest of all that I have met and hiked with. Enjoy the mountains and the company of others that enjoy the same activities.

IMO opinion carole and no offense meant, but the original pole questions and post could be somewhat misinterpreted or actually interperted differently by different forum users. Thus some irony could be construed here as the interperter could be male or female and therfore gender differences might make a difference not to mention any other personal cognitive,socioeconomic, and demographic differences.

 

[timmus]

Very interesting.

When I signed in on this board, I did choose an unclear screen name so people don't know what gender I am. I guess I thought gender does matter.

As for hiking, I prefer being with men, because as a fragile woman, I need their strenght and power, and also because men are much better in orienteering, so I feel more secure.

Did you really think I was hiking with Pete, Dr. Wu and Neil because of their good looks ??!!!!!

 

[Neil]

As for hiking, I prefer being with men, because as a fragile woman, I need their strenght and power, and also because men are much better in orienteering, so I feel more secure.

I disagree, you use your own strength & power to get up and down. Also, a woman can orienteer just as well as a man. Anyway, if you are mostly sticking to the ADK46 or, and I'm extrapolating here, the NH48 you don't need a ton of orienteering skills. Some, but not that much. (I know, above treeline in a whiteout bla, bla,bla... but you get my drift )

Did you really think I was hiking with Pete, Dr. Wu and Neil because of their good looks ??!!!!!

Blam! There goes another mid-life illusion.

 

[Head]

...Dude...

 

[The Sikes]

I think it depends on the person. Most of my girl friends would never think to go hiking along or with their kids. And backpacking would be out of the question. They say they are scared. They don't care for the outdoors like I do. If I waited for someone to hike with me, other than last year, I would have never gone hiking.

I can't say I hike alone because my kids are always with me but I don't think it would bother me. I think I would have the same concerns as any other hiker....what if I get hurt....

 

[Pete_Hickey]

As for hiking, I prefer being with men, because as a fragile woman, I need their strenght and power, and also because men are much better in orienteering, so I feel more secure.

Uh huh. Remember my "I'm blind and can't see" trick, so that you would lead and break trail up Redfield?

Did you really think I was hiking with Pete, Dr. Wu and Neil because of their good looks ??!!!!!

Are you lieing about this, too

No, I think (at least in my case) it was for the beer.

 

[timmus]

''Gender does matter''

CARTOON by Jul.

 

[giggy]

''Gender does matter''

CARTOON by Jul.

awesome

 

[sierra]

Someones gender defines thier gender and thats it. People in general and by nature are deverse in ways that are far more complicated then to assume anything by gender alone. My last girlfriend was more self confident and strong by nature then most men I know, had she been a member on this board you she would have come across as male, alpha for that matter, but she looked like a woman and had the soft side of a woman.
To me it is nice to know on this board but for selfish reasons on my part, I want a female hiking partner, hint hint Ive climbed and hiked with males for years. In Colorado I had a female hiking partner, quite frankly I noticed a difference in both conversation and a generally relaxed approach to our hikes, by that I mean we hiked together with no hint of competition although we did some hard hikes there was no interest in anything but enjoying our hikes. Males together in the same cage tend to posture a little by nature.

 

[C.Tracy]

Someones gender defines thier gender and thats it. People in general and by nature are deverse in ways that are far more complicated then to assume anything by gender alone. My last girlfriend was more self confident and strong by nature then most men I know, had she been a member on this board you she would have come across as male, alpha for that matter, but she looked like a woman and had the soft side of a woman.
To me it is nice to know on this board but for selfish reasons on my part, I want a female hiking partner, hint hint Ive climbed and hiked with males for years. In Colorado I had a female hiking partner, quite frankly I noticed a difference in both conversation and a generally relaxed approach to our hikes, by that I mean we hiked together with no hint of competition although we did some hard hikes there was no interest in anything but enjoying our hikes. Males together in the same cage tend to posture a little by nature.

I agree 100 percent..............you can also see male "posture" in some of these forums

 

[Dugan]

Males together in the same cage tend to posture a little by nature.

Females will do the same.

 

[smitty77]

I was assumed to be a guy at one point (picture not available) and was curious about how I portrayed myself as masculine....still not sure.

See Pete's post on assumptions. Better probablity that the responder is a guy (at least based on poll results thus far).

Count me among those that thought you had some sick and twisted fettish for abdominal crunches.

 

[hardrain]

valid question

hardrain is a 51 year old dude.

 

[Jeff-B]

The "gentleman" in me will almost always give way to a woman passed on the trail, as in most instances in life.
But who am I to say that gender does not matter?
As a male, I could never fully understand a woman's perspective.

I give all the credit in the world to all those women who rough it out in the mountains!
It takes a certian mind over matter to overcome fears and a willingness to sacrifice clean hygine for a period of time.
This is true no matter your gender.

YOU GO GIRLS!

I voted "male" but unsure exactly why, other than I am one..

 

[julianne]

As far as women and solo hiking goes, I like to remind women who are nervous about this that they are statistically more likely to be harmed by a man they know well, than by a stranger. Domestic violence is a leading cause of injury and death to women in some age groups. So yes, there are risks to hiking alone, but the chance of being attacked by someone you don't know is on the low end of the scale. Statistically you are safer alone in the woods than at home with your husband.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/ipvfacts.htm

Sorry to all the guys out there who do not beat their wives, I know you are the majority. Be a chum and don't let it go if you know someone who does.

 

[Frosty]

This is exactly what I was talking about. I used to be skiddish about hiking solo in the Whites, not in the Monadnocks, but not anymore. I have LOVED hiking solo in the Whites this year! Is that because of my gender, or just getting used to hiking solo in a different, less familiar environment?

I don't think there is an answer as to why. I used to love hiking and camping solo. Now I much prefer a hiking companion (though also still go solo sometimes), and dislike solo camping. So I took the opposite path you did. Whatever our process is, I doubt it is gender-related.

 

[Frosty]

Gender does matter in conversation because ...(newsflash!) ...there are differences between men and women!

I tend to disagree. Not that there aren't differences, but that the differences are general in nature.

You can say that in general men and women are different, but we are talking about specific people (the posters) and it is wrong to make individual judgements about differences in individuals based on the average.

You can assume that men in general are taller and stronger than women and be correct as far as the average man and average woman goes, but you should not assume that poster A is tall and/or strong because he is a man. Or that poster B is neither tall nor strong because she is a woman.

You can assume that women in general are more concerned about safety than men and be correct, but you should not assume that poster A is concerned about safety because she is a woman. Or that poster B is not concerned because he is a man.

Making individaul judgements based on group demographics is pre-judging and is called prejudice.

We all do it sometimes, myself included, but that fact that many posts showed surprise as to gender when meeting face to face shows that pre-judging based on gender averages or norms doesn't work all the time. Which is what we'd expect. We are all individuals, after all.