I have seen calls lately for more representation of women in the rafting industry. The idea behind more women working as river guides being a positive change has to do with feelings. To its adherents the idea of supporting more women in rafting feels good; they feel like they are a good person because of it. Yet there is no logical evidence that supports this idea and there is no burden of proof on those advocating for it. It is enough simply to pronounce it and that is that. But the burden of proof should be on those advocating for change. And it is not enough to merely shout the loudest that this is a ‘good thing’ and then denounce those opposing the idea as misogynists. Since nobody seems to be putting forward the case for why this is so great an idea, then I will put forward the case of why it is not.
First, some background. I worked as a professional full time river guide for over fifteen years on four continents. On every river that I worked bar one there were female guides. There weren’t many, in fact I would put their representation at barely 1% of the entire workforce, but they were there. Apart from a single example they were also top notch guides. I would put most women I have worked with on rivers in the top 10% of guides overall. One of those I would put at the very top.
On first inspection this information would lead the uninformed reader to make the assumption that more women river guides must then be a very good thing indeed. If the women already working on rivers are of such a high standard then surely we must want more of them? This is a superficial and unsophisticated response. Let me tell you the story of a guide I once worked with, named Lucy.
Lucy had a fearsome reputation on the Tully River in Far North Queensland, Australia. She stood barely five foot six, was lithe and wiry, and possessed a lovely smile that could disarm a man at fifty paces. The story went that on the guide training course of which she was a participant she asked one of the instructors if it were possible to swim over the Cardstone Weir, a sheer almost river-wide pour-over created by a lava overflow millions of years ago. The drop was about 12 feet and had a terrific boil line at higher water levels.
The instructor assured her that nobody in their right mind would swim voluntarily over the thing, but she was free to have a crack. At that point Lucy walked back upstream, threw herself into the river, floated over the centre of the drop, and emerged a good 30 seconds later after a terrific pummelling. She then swam calmly to the shore.
The other trainee river guides, over a dozen of them still remaining on the 6 week long course, all looked at each other in resignation. And then one by one they trudged up the river and swam out to receive their very own thrashing at the hands of the pour-over. After all, they couldn’t let a girl show them up.
Why did Lucy do it? The immature and undisciplined answer is that she was showing up the men. Girl power and all that rubbish. The real reason is much simpler – she was showing the guys that she was one of them. She was demonstrating to them that they could count on her.
Guiding is a dangerous occupation. I personally know of four former colleagues who died doing the job they loved. A group of guides travelling down a river in a small flotilla of rafts is only as strong as their weakest member. Guiding is not about getting your raft down the river; it’s about getting the trip down the river. If you’re guiding a two boat trip and you get flung out of your raft and suffer a foot entrapment, there is only one other person on that trip who has a chance of saving your butt. And that’s the guide on the other boat.
Whenever I rafted small trips I always did that little exercise in my head with the other guide I was about to run with in mind. If I wasn’t sure about them then I made sure that I was the first boat in line. That way I at least knew they’d see me if something went wrong. And that other guide with me wanted to know that I was rotating my head on a constant basis, particularly in situations where the two rafts would be lost from sight, such as bends on a tight river. When things go bad they happen awful fast.
Lucy understood this. She knew that she had to show the guys that they could count on her, and she didn’t do it just that once. Time after time on the river it was Lucy who made the big rescues. If it was a two boat trip and it was just me and her then I was happy either way to be first or second boat because I knew for a fact that we had each other covered.
Which is why encouraging more women to join the industry is not just counter-productive. It’s downright dangerous. Lucy, and all the other female guides that I worked with, got there through their own effort and hard work. Their drive to really achieve, to be accepted in a man’s world, saw them reach skill levels that they would never have achieved if they weren’t so passionate to make the grade. There are no barriers to women entering the world of rafting now, and in all my years as a guide, I never saw any. It doesn’t matter what gender or race or culture you are; what counts is what you can do on the river and what you bring to the team as a whole.
Encouraging women into the industry means dragging women in who don’t necessarily have that innate drive to succeed at rafting. That equates to having a liability on the river. If you’re guiding a two boat trip do you want someone who got there through their own drive and hard work or do you want someone who is there because of “equality” or affirmative action”?
Giving special allowance to female guides is also an insult to all those women who have already made the grade. They didn’t need any help or special favours so why should any other women need the same? If you’re a guide and you’re advocating for more girls in the industry then perhaps it’s time to have a close look at your own rafting skills and abilities. I find that people who can’t measure up to the grade like to have the grade brought down to their own level.
On the surface encouraging more women into rafting does seem like a fine and noble gesture. But put feelings aside and examine it with logic and it doesn’t hold up. There is no discrimination in the rafting industry.
Everyone has to prove that they belong there, man or woman, and that is entirely as it should be. Encouraging one gender at the exclusion of the other is the opposite of equality.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Adam Piggott is a longtime boater and author of PUSHING RUBBER DOWNHILL, a memoir of professional rafting all over the world. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the Editorial Staff at DBP MAGAZINE ONLINE, or Dirt Bag Paddlers, but we welcome the opportunity to open the discussion on this complex subject, and invite rebuttals.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR- Adam’s first kayak was a Perception Dancer in 1986. He began commercial rafting in 1995 on the Tully river in Australia, and subsequently worked as a guide in Canada, Uganda and Italy until 2010. He has written articles for numerous magazines over the last 20 years, and has written three books, the first two of which he threw away. 'Pushing Rubber Downhill' is his first published book where he details his experiences rafting around the world. He now lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife, a cat, a Ducati, and a few Gibson guitars. He still has the Dancer.
Some links to Adam Piggott-
Adam's blog:
Where you can buy the book:
On Facebook:
Adam, you're getting confused between 'encouraging' and 'giving a free ride'. And in doing so, and writing a misinformed article, you made it even less appealing for women to join the profession.
ReplyDeleteHi Jean,
DeleteI'm not confused about the two at all. Encouraging women into the history means seeking them out to become riverguides because they are female and nothing more. If this happened they would inevitably have to be given a free ride in order for them to pass and fill the required female "quota".
I object to any encouragement based on a person's gender, race, or age. If you want to become a guide then great. Step and do it. Otherwise stay away.
Perhaps I missed something. I didn't see anything about lowering standards for women to enter guide training. I have seen both men and women "wash out" of guide training for numerous reasons. It's not for everybody. If anyone can meet the entry level standards, regardless of gender, they qualify in my book. As to whether I want them on my two boat trip, well that's a decision that comes only with time and experience both theirs and mine with them. This article seems pointless and frankly, illogical. That's my 35 years of experience and 2cents worth...
ReplyDeleteHi Scotty,
DeleteYou are correct. At this stage there has been no formal push to lower standards so as to encourage more women into the industry. But a few things have happened that lead me to believe that it could be just around the corner if we're not careful.
Firstly, many other workplaces have already gone down this route. The US marine corp has a quota system, firefighting and police forces have a quota system, and there are many more examples. As a consequence it is on record that standards have had to be lowered in every one of these examples in order to accommodate the influx of women who are simply incapable of reaching minimum expectations.
But this has been going on for some time. What set my personal antenna to high alert was the publication of this report:
https://www.doioig.gov/reports/investigative-report-misconduct-grand-canyon-river-district
The reaction to that report has been a typical knee-jerk reaction that the rafting industry is male dominated and thus misogynistic, and that the only way to solve the problem is to raise the number of female guides.
Now personally, as a man, I find it highly insulting and provocative for people to believe that an industry is misogynistic simply because it is dominated by men. Let's remember that the definition of misogyny is a pathological hatred of women. But in the current political climate this is par for the course.
I consider that report and the reaction to it the first step in the inexorable slide to lower barriers of entry to women in the rafting industry. Barriers of entry that are entirely performance based and nothing at all to do with discrimination.
I prefer to sound the alarm before the rot sets in. If you're far-sighted then you too will act to protect your industry before it is compromised as so many other workplaces have already discovered only when it was too late.
I row dories in the Grand Canyon and have been a river guide all over the world as well for over 40 years. This article makes so little sense that I suspect the author wrote it because of a deadline and article commitment rather than being serious. Some of the best guides I've ever rowed with are women, as he notes. To suggest that encouraging more women to deal with the usual hazing, harassment and testosterone poisoning that Tully guides are infamous for is any different for them than it would be for a fat, old, short Jewish boy like me is baloney. Those of us good enough and lucky enough and thick-skinned enough to make it to the other side have a responsibility to tamp down BS like this, so, consider yourself tamped.
ReplyDeleteExcellent article. A shame that the replies do not use similar logical argument. The women that are currently doing the job have got there due to desire and natural ability. The fact that there are very few of them is evidence that such desire and ability is pretty rare among women in general. Therefore helping more women to enter the industry will require that standards be lowered.
ReplyDelete