Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Jeff Lund's avatar

The game of historical telephone leads to inevitable inaccuracies which we all understand. What’s particularly gross is when people use preferred elements of history as permission to serve themselves. There is a hint of condescension with many hunters who take their daughters and wives hunting for shows and videos. “Watch me as I turn this woman into a provider too.”

Expand full comment
Stacy Boone's avatar

Jesse, as always, another great essay. I had to sit with it for a day or two. One of the queries I have been wrestling with is more modern and that is how gender roles shifted and changed. It happened around the WWI and WWII, as rural was shifting towards urban, and manifests in the societal practices of today. I believe historically the truth is that there existed more gender cooperation than simply "roles." Working together verses separation of responsibilities.

I know many, many great female hunters. She practices skills, she learns and trains, she kills, she field dresses, she hauls. This isn't new but it is a dynamic that feels quieted.

When I taught hunting workshops, they were female only invitations. Why I was asked? My example, I had taught orienteering workshops where the attending women, and men, would look at the male regardless that I was the instructor. Again, social learning.

Expand full comment
9 more comments...

No posts