David Thompson read closely into Everyday Feminism's reminder that enjoying the outdoors is a privileged, white activity. For example,
Many outdoor jobs, like wildland firefighting and logging, remain hyper-masculine and painfully heteronormative.
I hadn't thought of wildland firefighting as enjoying the outdoors - it's not what I do when I feel cooped up need to get a bit of air - but I will admit that it seems to by hyper-masculine. Too masculine for most of us men, frankly, who can only admire the guys who actually do it.
Thompson's takedown is fun, and the linked original article is a real treat.
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Wildland firefighting also depends heavily on volunteer firefighters as support for the Forest Service's efforts, so, it's unpaid labor for a lot of men who do it.
Following the links back to the original article, I find that claim about wildland firefighting is actually located immediately under this bolded banner: "On top of racism, rape culture persists."
Good gracious, lady. Do you think anyone is thinking of rape in the middle of fighting a forest fire? Who would they rape anyway, if everyone else around them is fellow manly heteronormative men?
Many outdoor jobs, like wildland firefighting and logging, remain hyper-masculine and painfully heteronormative.
Not so. Monty Python so informed us some 4 decades ago that lumberjacks were very inclusive, not hyper-masculine at all. After all, there were transvestite lumberjacks.Lumberjack Song.
(song in German doesn't say "like my dear papa," but "like my Uncle Walter.")
Several of my best friends were wildland firefighters. Their stories intermittently made me think, "That job sounds like the worst thing in the world," then, "That job sounds awesome!" While I'd known a couple of them since high school, we didn't hang out much until after they'd mostly given it up for other things. Had I been around them earlier, I think I would have joined them for at least one season. Regardless, it doesn't appear to be work that appeals to many women, but my friends spoke highly of the few who were on the crew with them.
Maybe it’s just my old fogyism, but 40 years ago hikers in the NY/New England area were more talkative and friendly when you crossed paths with them in the woods. Increasingly the younger hikers were taking the extreme sports mentality and were on “missions’ rather than taking in the experience. The old New England college outing club mentality changed to an athletics only one. Maybe that is what the writer was really seeing even accounting for her woke mentality. But like all activities the likelihood of you taking it up as an adult is based on what you were exposed to as a child. Black men are well represented in recreational fishing and to a lesser degree in hunting but almost never as hikers. After all most lumberjacks were Finns, Swedes and French-Canadians.
@Grim - nobody writing under a banner like Everyday Feminism has used the word 'rape' to mean an actual physical assault since before Whoopie informed us that there's a difference between 'rape' and 'rape-rape'. Those misogynists out tramping through the brush with axes and shovels are undoubtedly thinking impure thoughts, and that's all the counts.
It's part of a sweeping genre I call "Where do you get off enjoying yourself when I'm so unhappy?" We all know from experience that there are people who specialize in manipulating everyone in their environment with their own misery, which they'll willingly exacerbate if it helps them grab more control.
I'm a big believer in the right to shout "Hey, move it!" when someone's stepping on my toe. It's less admirable to nurse a sore toe in the corner and use it to tell everyone else to stop dancing. It's sweet when a friend or sister shaves her head someone enduring chemo doesn't feel so alone, but must the whole world do it forever? When we're emotionally healthy, we can take pleasure in the fact that there are people out there in the world going about their happy lives, even when we're facing excruciating trouble.
It's evidence of a writer who pays too much attention to social media and commercial media. Sure, you can buy expensive equipment for outdoor activities, but it isn't mandated. Likewise, I could buy a hyper-expensive oven to cook my dinner--but it isn't mandated. It's a silly idea that marketers decree what's allowed on the hiking trail.
I guess the author has never visited an Army Navy store? The outdoor store near us was always more affordable than the mall.
It would be more helpful to do something to alleviate a problem, if there were one, by volunteering for youth organizations, for example. Much healthier than complaining about other people.
@ Cranberry - I believe those are the less fun and less cool parts of being outdoors. Trying to hoosh a bunch of kids of any race up a mountain can be rewarding in the end, but it's not always easy.
I've been camping since I was a kid and, later, an impoverished young adult. The trick is to call it "primitive" camping and enjoy the challenge of doing it without any equipment.
That's assuming you want to enjoy yourself instead of wallow in oppression. "Imagine all my joy and achievements if you weren't forcing me to sit on my butt whining!"
Maybe you could think of camping as the gentile's imitation of the festival of booths.
To Cranberry’s point, one meets homeless men camping along the Appalachian Trail. If one is homeless already, in fact, there’s a sense in which it is easier than ever to adopt the through-hiker lifestyle. And it gets you away from the worst influences.
@ T99 - that brings up an interesting point, which you hint at. It is clear this woman has some sort of emotional or social difficulty that is overwhelming her intellect (which may or may not be adequate). But we don't know what this is, and should not speculate. She might be lazy. She might be guilt-ridden. She might be snobbish. She might be overemotional, or a six other things. We can't say from here. Conservatives often fall into the habit of guess why someone is not reasoning correctly, without evidence that supports their view. Best to simply note that something is not quite rational and leave it at that.
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