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September, 2006
Adventuresome Women
By Leah Titcomb
The following story is a selection from the book, Adventuresome Women, created by Leah Titcomb. Adventuresome Women is a collection of stories of women's wilderness experiences and the relevant psychobiology of women in relation to the stories. The book explores the experiences of women specifically, in outdoor settings. Whether male or female, we all embody feminine and masculine perspectives, and there is a difference between the feminine and masculine way of being.
What makes this book different than other books of women's wilderness adventures is that there is an introduction at the beginning of each section about the psychology and biology of women. It explains what is generally happening for women in both their minds and bodies.
Adventuresome Women was created through collecting submissions women's written stories and interviewing women and recording their experiences. The stories are from students, instructors and other women I met both in and out of the field. This book was written so other people can read it and be comforted by the stories, and know that they aren't alone, and that the more feminine perspective is valid.
For more information about the book or to purchase a copy, e-mail: adventuresome.women@yahoo.com
My Body, My Ally
By Lisa Galterio
I have always believed that outdoor education has a unique ability to help women transform the ways that they view their bodies. In the words of one woman who has experienced the transformative power of outdoor education in her life, "Maturing into womanhood through experiences in the wilderness has deeply affected my self- acceptance, self-esteem, and body image. I gained an appreciation for my strength and agility as I climbed, hiked, and became competent in backcountry camping. Rather than an object to be adorned and perfected, my body became an ally." (S. Copland).
As I re-read this quote, I am reminded of a journal entry that I wrote this past summer on a field course with primarily men. It started out with "Sometimes I think that there are no advantages to being a woman in this field. . ." I had painful menstrual cramps and we were hauling 90-pound packs up onto the Eklutna Glacier in Alaska. That day, it took us 14 hours to get to camp. Little did I know that climbing up into this strikingly beautiful and remote landscape would be not only a journey of struggle but also an insight into my own strength as a woman. As we inched our way up onto the ice, my body physically could not go as fast as I wanted it to; but, surprisingly, there were not too many moments where I felt like crying or stopping.
Even though I wrote about my frustrations around being female that night, I now realize that my body became my ally that day. As a woman, I was able to have the unique experience of feeling my body cleansing itself while supporting me under the weight of my pack. Though I have no desire to carry a pack that heavy again, the experience opened up the door for me to know what it is like to believe that I am strong.
Through taking a field course with only women, I have begun to understand the importance of my past experiences in the field with both men and women. In particular, the experience has enabled me to work with people who I could relate to as "equal" and women who I could see as "strong." I now understand that one of the barriers that women have to break if we are to see ourselves as equals with men in this field relates to body image and our ability to process moments of physical struggle into experiences of feeling and believing that we are powerful and strong.
Lisa Galterio has recently completed her degree in adventure education. She spends her summers in Alaska and works specifically with women in the outdoors. She is an avid climber, hiker and canoeist.
Leah Titcomb is a recent graduate of Prescott College, where she earned her degree in outdoor experiential education. She is now based in Northern New England, where she continues to write and explore the wilderness through her own adventures. A few of her favorite outdoor activities are hiking expansive ridgelines in mountain ranges, sipping coco from her tent vestibule, and duckying a river.
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