Today I played a fun game. I took my favorite guidebook and I went through each page, tallying the photographs. For the ones where I could tell the gender, I marked a tally in a column. (I also noted if it was a mixed gender partnership and who was belaying. Surprisingly there were more men belaying women, by 1). I was surprised by how many women were actually in the photos. Then I did the math. 90 people in photos. 57 men, 33 women. Despite feeling like I saw more women than I expected, women were still only 36%
Is this representative of the climbing population? What happens when you look through YOUR favorite guidebook?
Today is International Women’s Day. I talked with Carrisa and we wanted to write about who inspires us, but lately I’ve also been frustrated and angry and I want to sing praise but also to remember there is still work to do. Women matter, and it’s more than just today. Let’s keep this conversation going. Let’s talk about our inspirations and our mentors and let’s make sure it’s today and tomorrow and next week and next month. -Alexis