Comments on: Can female explorers save us from extinction?

By: Wonnabeadventurecyclist

Wonnabeadventurecyclist — Fri, 13 May 2011 07:06:30 +0000

Maybe us explorer women just don’t feel we need to publicise our adventures? We are happy to get on with our adventures just for ourselves.

By: Mark Pawlak

Mark Pawlak — Fri, 13 May 2011 01:41:06 +0000

Hi Annie,

Good luck on your journey, there is a lot of inspiration to be taken from other explorers. I also pick up National Geographic from time to time; the pictures always remind that it’s all out there waiting to be discovered.

By: Annie

Annie — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 23:59:08 +0000

Hi all,
Lovely thoughts out there. I actually bumped into this page while searching on how to become an explorer and the things one should need to know. I happen to be an architect and a landscape architect. I’ve always loved to travel and I share this sense of adventure with my mum. She was always fascinated by different people and places. She didn’t get many opportunities to travel but she’s always been fond of reading about other explorer’s adventure stories.
Anyway, I like to challenge myself. I’m a practicing Muslim woman and I plan to become an explorer. I’ll start this journey by going to a motorbike expedition first and then take it from there. I know there can be a lot of hurdles for women but that is the challenge. I’m pretty optimistic.

By: Deborah Watson-Novacek

Deborah Watson-Novacek — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:23:56 +0000

I'm in such agreement with all of the above. The lives of female explorers has been an interest of mine for many years and I've been putting together websites to share the information with the world. The hub site at this point is at Female Explorers, and I've been building individual sites for various women, such as Harriet Chalmers Adams and Isabella Bird. I'd love to hear from you, and I'll be posting a link to this article on he Female Explorers site. Thank you for writing this article!

By: Lucy

Lucy — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:56:29 +0000

Absolutely right, the stereotype needs to change! It’s come a long way since the original days of exploration but still hasn’t caught up yet.

I work for BSES (The British Schools Exploring Society ) who take 16-23 year olds to the Arctic, Amazon, Himalayas and desert on 5-12 week expeditions.

When we first established in 1932 BSES only accepted males. Thankfully, times have changed now and in my experience as an Arctic Expedition Leader, the girls often emerge as some of the most determined and positive young explorers.

A few weeks ago, a team of intrepid young explorers set off from London to spend 3 months in the Arctic, in temperatures as low as -25°C. The team is made up of 12 girls who have been marginally outnumbered by 15 boys. Leader-wise we have a good balance with 5 men and 4 women. So the ratio is certainly evening out but we’ve still got work to do!

You can find out more about BSES expeditions at http://www.bses.org.uk and follow the girl’s (and boys) ‘Extreme Arctic’ blog at http://blog.bses.org.uk/ExtremeArctic2010/

By: Mark Pawlak

Mark Pawlak — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:20:57 +0000

Thanks Holly,

Straight into the bookmarks, thanks for following.

By: Mark Pawlak

Mark Pawlak — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:19:23 +0000

Thanks Milbry,

Great to have a comment with such rich information. Anytime you are putting out an expedition let us know. Clearly then the problem is more to do with PR and representation, than it is engagement: Just what we thought.

Mikael has much to say on the role of the explorer, he strongly believes in uniting peoples, and he is always walking the walk, as well as talking the talk.

Thanks,

By: Luke

Luke — Wed, 12 May 2010 13:18:45 +0000

I agree it is not very often you hear about female explorers. However the same can be said about sports, for example you hear about the exploits of Shaun White above those of Torah Bright who won the women’s half pipe gold medal in Vancouver. It is the same in Surfing, Golf, Football, Kitesurfing, Skateboarding etc etc.

The problem is (and this might sound controversial) that if the men and women compete against each other the guys nearly always come first because we are stronger and faster. Take the 100m as an example Usain Bolt’s 100m record is 9.58 seconds but the women’s record by Florence Griffith-Joyner is 10.49 seconds which has been the record since 1988! This is an amazing achievement by Florence but if the men and women raced against each other there would never be any women in the final let alone on the podium.

An example of someone who bucks the trend is Ellen McArthur who is the fastest PERSON to sail single handedly around the world. She gets the recognition she deserves as best in the world, but who remembers the first woman to climb Everest or 5th person to reach the South Pole?

So the problem is the media’s obsession with first, fastest, longest, highest rather than what it takes to get there and how the person is feeling about it regardless of if they achieve it. However perhaps the media obsession mirrors our own as I know I would rather read about the first 1080 Tomahawk rather than the personal fears of whether someone is good enough to do it…. regardless of whether it is male or female.

By: Mikael Strandberg

Mikael Strandberg — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:26:11 +0000

Hi Mark, I am in Kinshasa now after a fantastic journey through Congo. We need to talk!

By: Holly

Holly — Wed, 12 May 2010 12:01:54 +0000

We’re all too busy Multi-tasking our challenges & explorations!!!

There are plenty out there giving it a go for women, iv stumbled across one of these in and amongst many climbing websites. And the other a friend of mine told me about.

http://www.chickswithpicks.net/

http://www.lipstickblondes.com/