Where are all the girls at?

I have previously posted a blog about the lack of representation of female adventurers within mainstream media - "Female Adventurers". The blog briefly touched upon the lack of adventure books written by females or where about females. I didn't know if this was because there was genuinely a gender divide within the outdoor adventure scene or if it was because females didn't feel the need to write about their adventures so much when compared to their male counterparts. Or if plain and simply the publishing houses didn't want to take on the author or the story in terms of revenue it can generate. 

There are so many factors that are left unanswered or just as questions floating in the air. 

This blog was inspired by when I went searching for a new adventure book in a bookstore. I tried many mainstream and independent stores and found the same lack of representation for female adventurers. When I did find the books it would be 3 or 4 books next to each other within a corner of 1 bookshelf. The other bookshelves for travel writing would be filled with many books by the same author. However, this book stood out to me in those bookshelves. 

Initially I was frustrated that all of these women's stories were jammed into one book. A compilation of short stories. I felt cheated that I was getting a summarised version of these ladies adventures. However, on reading the opening pages by the author she gave a description of how women in adventure were underrepresented within all media platforms. The author's aim was to give a voice to all these women's stories. She explained how there was a difference and lack of women being shown in the industry. Her book was a way of bridging the gap. 

I felt like this book found me. Rather than me searching for a book to read. I was able to be engrossed in other women's stories and be transported to places across the globe. Being tough isn't just about going the furthest, highest or fastest it's also about backing yourself and what you stand for. This was conveyed in one of the stories about river conservation. The story emphasises just how much nature is intertwined and we must start to take care of it. Isn't this the message we are hearing time and time again.

It's also about the sacrifices that a person makes and also the sacrifices of others around them. One of the stories that struck a chord within me the most was how the tough decisions came from the parents of the adventurer. She only recognised the tough decision that her parents had, in letting her go on a solo adventure when she was so young, when she became a parent herself. This hit home for me as I think of all the crazy things I have done with adventure. It must have taken my parents some courage  to let me go.

After finishing this book I have now changed my view on being disappointed that I was reading a collection of short stories rather than a detailed account of adventures. Now I appreciate that I was being introduced to all of these other female adventurers and explorers. I was being told stories I had never heard of and read about expeditions that really stoked my fires. My world has been expanded and I am grateful to get to know these women and what they stand for and why they are tough.

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