From: bowers@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov (Al Bowers)
Subject: Re: A social problem
Organization: NASA Dryden, Edwards, Cal.
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 19:52:04 GMT

In article <1ehgldINNnqg@male.EBay.Sun.COM> jeffh@nonsuch.EBay.Sun.COM (Jeff Huntington) writes:
>In article 41y@news.cso.uiuc.edu, andy@hendrix.ece.uiuc.edu (Andy Bereson) writes:
>> In article <2670163@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM>, bsmith@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (Brian Smith) writes:
>> |> In rec.boats, jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes) writes:

>> |>Any suggestions? Any ideas *why* these people cannot imagine a healthy
>> |>woman in her 30's rowing a boat?

>> |> If you make an issue of it by making some smart answer that is
>> |> intended to teach them a lesson, you will not have achieved nothing,
>> |> you will have achieved a negative affect.  If they are leather necks,
>> |> nothing you say will make them change their minds; if they are not,
>> |> you will spoil their day and they will wonder why.

>> This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ is a
>> fine example of the sexist attitudes that the original post was trying
>> to do his share to eliminate.  It is the same attitude that leads to
>> debacles such as the hill-thomas affair.  

>This thread has gone quite a bit far afield for rec.boats; I am not sure it 
>belongs here any more.  But, since it is here, let me put on my nomex foul 
>weather gear and get ready for the fire storm.  :-)

Prepare the garppling hooks and bring on the grape shot!

>Lighten Up!  This society's current obsession with sexism is getting
>in the way of far too many people feeling good about themself and
>enjoying life.  When people go around with a chip on their shoulder
>looking for things that they can cite as examples of something they
>think should upset them, they have lost some of the joy in living.

Thta's very good.  Very well put.  Many points for style.

>From my experience, most women want to (and do) ride most of the time.
>On the other hand, few women that are around boats have never rowed.

My family is in the process of figuring out which recreational rowing
shell to build/buy.  My wife is quite interested, and I used to row
alot.  It's kinda fun to be able to _know_ how to feather a paddle.
And my wife was a canoe instructor one summer at a summer camp.  She
is also not bad on the tiller of our sailboat.  I wished she would do
more of it.  I've offered to act as shore crew for her and a female
friend of ours who is also quite adept at sailing our boat.

>When my wife and I were racing dinghys, I wanted her to be the
>skipper.  The reasons for this were that she weighs half of what I do,
>so it would be better to have my weight forward, and I could hike out
>harder.  Besides that, I am somewhat stronger (but not nearly twice as
>strong) :-) and so I could do the hard work of crew better.

Maybe you need a boat where the crew and helm can hike equally.  EG:
double trap (OD 14, I 14, Hobie 16); or no trap (Tasar, Highlander,
Lighting, Thistle).



--
"But the fact that a 1938 touring bodied Alfa Romeo I once had is
worth $1 million sometimes bothers the hell out of me.  It's a
personal problem."                                     -Phil Hill
Al Bowers                                 bowers@rigel.dfrf.nasa.gov
Iaido   Takamine   Hobie   Rossignol   Alfa Romeo  Ducati (DOD #900)
Newsgroups: rec.boats