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General Climbing Discussion

Topic Date User

Should GriGris be alllowed in climbing gyms 14-Feb-2011 At 10:54:48 PM will5686

Message

On 14/02/2011 MrsM10iswhereitsat wrote:
>On 14/02/2011 will5686 wrote:
>>On 10/02/2011 ultimate flasher wrote:
>>>nmonteith: i find when im flashing every route issues such as unconcious
>>>belayers dont affect me, i just mantle the top out and walk back down.
>>>seems to work everytime. only if your strong enough of course
>>>
>>>i also find that as long as it is not a woman belaying then ground falls
>>>also aren't an issue.
>>>Garbie: in those gri gri accidents you mentioned, what was the sex of
>>>the belayer? i am pretty certain they were women each time
>>
>>I don think this type of sexism is appropriate on chockstone.
>
>But is it sexism Mz will5686 ?
>I took it to mean in the perhaps equally stereotypical fashion, that most
>women belayers are lighter than their male climbing companions, and as
>a result, unless anchored to the floor or ground, end up going up as their
>falling partner continues falling down to possibly deck out.

If this was what he meant then he would have written something about how heavy the belayers were, as in "i also find that as long as it is not a smaller person belaying then ground falls also arn't an issue". The issue that he relates poor belaying skill to is gender - not size. If he said the same thing about men being poor belayers I would also take offence - to relate anybody's skill at anything to their gender is wrong and reinforces the kind of negative stereotypes that stop many women from enjoying a sport like rock-climbing or mountain biking.

I could respond to Ultimate Flasher and say that women are naturally better belayers because they are more careful and cautious, and are more likely to pay attention to the climber and not get distracted, but I would be wrong. Being a woman does not make a person inherently better or worse as a belayer than any other person, being conscientious and aware makes a person a better belayer, and these qualities have nothing to do with an individuals sex.

But now I am just getting off topic. So I will make a small comment on that as well, just so i don't get in trouble: I have no problem with gyms letting leaders use gri gri's as long as they have been tested to make sure they know how to properly use them.

Claire