Today rummaging on the internet, I stumbled upon a shared post by Light Shed Pictures, reposting a ‘high-five’ to a letter from Georgie Abel in response to Evening Sends author Andrew Bisharat. Not typically one to get too involved in the climbing-sexism topic (I usually leave that to my friend Zofia Reych who does a great job on her blog), I really had to speak out on this one.
Andrew Bisharat has been heavily criticised for his opinions on his website about feminism and women in the climbing community. Upon reading most of his stuff, I couldn’t help sense the twinge of male-privilege and condescension that his tone often carries, but I have to give him credit, he did his best to remain as neutral as possible…Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against Andrew, I know 10s of thousands of guys like him, and I generally just ignore them and try to change the world towards female-male equality in my own climbing life.
However, this letter to Andrew from Georgie remarkably conveys how I truly feel about the climbing industry. It was such a great response to his perspective. I had to endorse it. Georgie says that instead of highlighting women for their achievements separate of men (this was discussed in Andrew’s original article on FFAs) she wishes for a world where we can just climb and get on with whatever the fuck we want without anyone really caring or thinking about us being females. This is the world that I want too. But upon reading Georgie’s cry out for this equality, I suddenly realised that maybe my perspective is also contributing to this sexism.
As a woman who ‘climbs hard’ and is relatively above the average of many women, I sometimes consider myself ‘above’ this sexism in the sport. The men I often climb with respect me, consider me one of their own. I recently got told to try a route that was ‘one that girls like’ and I was shocked by this phrase as I am normally surrounded by guys who really don’t care if I’m a girl or not (sometimes I regret that with never-ending talks of bowel movements).
But in my personal climbing life, Georgie’s article made me realise that perhaps I am climbing sexist myself.
I often try to be braver, train harder and be stronger than men…just because I want to redefine how women are seen in climbing and in life. But even that perspective is just fuelling the differences between the sexes. I should be brave, strong, train hard because it’s fun and I love it — not because I need to demonstrate to men that all those stereotypes are not true. Sometimes I find myself looking down on women who are scared at the top of a climb and come down, or ask a man to put their draws. I feel frustrated that they are giving into these female stereotypes – why can’t they just man up! Wait…’man up’? What are we even talking about here? I’ve realised that even my own thinking sometimes follows this sexist pattern. I should, instead of judging these women, or trying hard to never be one, I should be saying, you can do that climb! Or, you know what, it doesn’t matter if you don’t want to or if you are afraid — you can do what you want. Climbing is person, you should be the climber you want to be. Sometimes that means not topping out a high-ball or finishing a route. If it’s not fun to conquer your fear, you don’t have to! If you don’t like doing pull-ups, then forget them. If you don’t want to train on a finger board, then don’t do it!
No more am I going to be brave, strong, train hard because I have something to prove. I’m going to do it for myself because I love climbing, being strong and training hard. Oh, and I’m also a woman.
All the articles I mentioned are below:
Andrew Bisharat’s original article:http://eveningsends.com/the-curse-of-the-first-female-ascent/
Amanda Robinson Schwartz’s article on Moja Gear where he responds: http://mojagear.com/journal/2015/12/08/being-strong-and-fragile-a-discussion-on-sexism-racism-exclusivity-and-privilege-in-climbing/
Georgie Abel’s letter:https://medium.com/@georgieabel/an-open-letter-to-andrew-bisharat-2f14c76a0ec4#.hsttu05aq
Sidni West’s endorement shared by Light Shed Pictures: https://medium.com/@sidniwest/an-open-letter-to-the-men-running-the-climbing-industry-baf78f6df443#.zbe0ql20w
strength follows 
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