I don't know about the percentage but I can confirm the culture is
totally different. I am dutch, started gliding in the Netherlands.
With all respect but it was a shock for me when I first had to deal with
some Australian glider pilots.
The strangest encounter I have had was when we had an audit. I don't
want to name and shame but this man did not want to talk to me at all,
so instead of doing an audit this man stayed in his car and left the
airfield after two hours.
On the other hand, when I did my instructor's exam in the Netherlands,
both man and female exterminators needed a full day and 30 club members
(it was during a camp) were present, to see if I was suitable.
The instructor's exam I did in Australia was no nonsense and I thought
spot on.
Dealing with different cultures has changed my attitude (in a positive way).
Grietje
On 12/09/2014 12:34 pm, Rob Izatt wrote:
In Holland over 40% of glider pilots are women I believe. Their
culture is totally different.
On 12/09/2014, at 7:09 PM, Mark Newton wrote:
I reckon there will be a bunch of people who've read some of the
posts on this mailing list today who'll be saying, "I don't see the
problem. It's just a bit of harmless fun. Doesn't hurt anybody."
Guys say that all the time, never realizing that the only reason
they're /able /to say it is because they've typically been utterly
indifferent to whether their fun is, indeed, "harmless," or whether
it has hurt anybody.
I don't know, perhaps parents of girls have a different view.
Perspective and experience.
The reason it usually passes without mention is because most women,
having put up with it for their entire living memory, are so sick of
it that they can't be bothered going through the exhausting rigmarole
of engaging anymore, and just remove themselves from situations where
it's a problem; and because so many men, harboring a cataclysmic
failure of empathy, don't even notice the reactions of women, and
just let it slide without saying anything.
"The secret life of women."
http://i.imgur.com/OigLS.png
(I know the cartoonist: He told me some of these quotes were provided
by his daughter)
In case you haven't noticed (and I'm almost certain that some of you
actually haven't), gliding is almost entirely dominated by men.
There's no /physical/ reason why that should be the case. There's
also no innate gender-based difference in skill to explain it either.
I'm going to say it's cultural: The traditions and attitudes present
at gliding clubs all over Australia are, either overtly (like today's
email messages) or subtly (like so much of everything else) repulsive
to women. I've seen so many women enjoy their AEF, stick with it for
a couple of weekends, and never come back. And thousands of pilots
barely ever wonder why that's the case. Over time, gliding clubs
become male ghettos, all over Australia.
"What we walk past, we accept."
When we're learning to fly, the first lesson we're taught is
stability. The second lesson we're taught is how to change our attitude.
This community seems absolutely excellent at stability. When it comes
to sexism, maybe it ought to be skilled enough to master attitude.
There'll no doubt be replies to this message. I've said my piece, I'm
not going to respond to any of them them. But I, like everyone else
who reads them, will be making character judgements regardless. If
you find that idea challenging, perhaps take 24 hours to have a good
hard think about why.
Fin.
- mark
[ I will also reserve judgement over whether off-list replies
should be forwarded to the list.
There will be no shadows here. ]
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