The Prejudice Men Face

[max patch]

Once in one of my long hikes I found myself lost in the forest for about two hours. When I was struggling to find my way to trail I saw a young female hiker who clearly was afraid of me. I just wanted to ask the direction from her but as I speeded up she did the same, so I stopped going her way even when I knew it should be the right direction just because she was not comfortable at least to say.

Maybe I didn't read that correctly. Lets try again....

"so I stopped going her way even when I knew it should be the right direction"

Nope. Read it right. Thats just plain stupid. You. Not her.

[JAK]

Know what? The mice in the shelters don't care if you're male, female, trans-gendered, gay, or lesbian.

Hey now. Welcome to the 21st Century. Squeek means squeek.

[JAK]

At my age I am finally realizing I might as well be a gentleman, for all the good it does me. :-)

[coach lou]

Lately I've noticed being a gentleman is now Politicaly INcorrect.

[WingedMonkey]

It takes a tread like this to remind me of why I avoid others on the trail.

[hikerboy57]

I have striven my entire life to be politically incorrect. Im not about to stop now.I mean lets just call a spade a spade, and look at life in its stark reality, not the warm and fuzzy vanilla world of blandness they would like us to accept. Its our differences and our ability to look beyond them that has made america great. Its okay to recognize those differences and accept them.I dont care for this homogenized cultural shift.

[greenmtnboy]

I feel the same way. Accepting life on life's terms not on the terms I expect or want necessarily, but as they are. I am not expecting to get anything out of others and try to treat others with respect, not in ways that I may be intimidated into. If women may feel uncomfortable in certain situations, and put a "trip" on fellow hikers by looks, words and attitudes, it may be a reaction mechanism; men can feel uncomfortable for different reasons. Life is a two way street.

[10-K]

It takes a tread like this to remind me of why I avoid others on the trail.

yeppers.

[scope]

I have striven my entire life to be politically incorrect. Im not about to stop now.I mean lets just call a spade a spade, and look at life in its stark reality, not the warm and fuzzy vanilla world of blandness they would like us to accept. Its our differences and our ability to look beyond them that has made america great. Its okay to recognize those differences and accept them.I dont care for this homogenized cultural shift.

Mostly agree. However, I also like to avoid drama. Except here.

[Pony]

I thought it was interesting how I was percieved by others on the trail, and how that changed the longer I was on the trail. I never shaved, lost about 20 lbs and by the time I was done, my clothes were looking pretty ragged. Early on, I think people recognized that I was backpacking. I got on the trail in Virginia, so most thru hikers had already found their friends, and being the new guy, a lot of them just thought I was a weekend hiker. The farther north I got, and the more grungy I looked, they all assumed I was a thru hiker. Conversely, non hikers treated me with a lot more respect early on, and the farther I got, I think they thought I was just a transient. I took a wrong turn in NY trying to get to the vending machines at a lake (tiorati I think?). Anyway, I accidentally walked into a kids camp thinking it was the lake. I'm pretty sure that the girl working at the camp thought I was a child predator. When I explained the situation, she gave me directions, but I think it was mostly to get me away from the kids. I respected that she was looking out for the kids safety, but it really made me feel like a piece of crap. She was not very nice to me.

[Kookork]

Maybe I didn't read that correctly. Lets try again....

"so I stopped going her way even when I knew it should be the right direction"

Nope. Read it right. Thats just plain stupid. You. Not her.

Plain stupid? What you call plain stupid others called being consideate.

You are a 2000 miller? really? You hiked 2000 mile and still are that ignorant and impolite toward others? the journey did not teach you to be a human being?
or you maye are type of person who Thru-hiked AT and now thinks is elite of elites and has a power of something.

Your posts about others are mostly destructive, braging ......

You bro will not change even if you thru-hike the planet earth.

Hiking just turns you from a plain stupid to a complex one.

[max patch]

Plain stupid? What you call plain stupid others called being consideate.

Lets recap. You are lost. You think the trail is North. But if you head North you will be following a girl that you think is afraid of you. So you head East or West. But not North even tho you think that is the way.

I take it back. Thats not stupid. Thats real stupid.

[Old Hiker]

My Scout Troop camped on the top of Cheoah Bald this past summer. About 2 hours from sunset, a family of 4 comes up the trail - stated they took 3 hours to get there. No map, no light, minimal water/food. I gave them directions with our maps and a small flashlight, as I was afraid they would be on the trail after dark. The daughter kept looking around at my Scouts and kept saying, "Let's go dad, let's go" in a scared way, at least it sounded to me. I wanted to tell her she was safer with us than on the trail after dark, but dad made the decision and off they went. Haven't heard of any families missing north of the NOC, so hopefully they made it.

Appearances can be deceiving.

[Kookork]

Lets recap. You are lost. You think the trail is North. But if you head North you will be following a girl that you think is afraid of you. So you head East or West. But not North even tho you think that is the way.

I take it back. Thats not stupid. Thats real stupid.

In my original post I stated that" I stopped going her way" does it mean I turned east or west? no just I tried to make a safe distance between us for her convenience. Then as I mentioned accidentally I found the trail that was not the way she was searching.

This is not that complicated to understand but in your case it seems you believe persistance on Ignorance is a virtue.It is not.

[doritotex]

Everyone and every group faces prejudices, there is no dispute in that! The woman that started her thread in the women's forum was just expressing concerns about what she has faced. For a man to start this thread in retaliation is childish.

[max patch]

I call Bull$hit on your whole story. Doesn't make sense.

[Kookork]

Your take of the whole incident does not change a rat ass of what happened there. you are free to call it whatever you like but do not talk about" Making sense" since It is too much for you.

[Marta]

Gentlemen: Please tone it down. While this is the General Forum, so you don't have to be quite as nice to each other as the Women's Forum requires, WhiteBlaze policies forbid the hurling of insults.

[Skidsteer]

"Political correctness" is a term invented by those who wish to mindlessly demonize the concept of walking a mile in someone else's shoes.

Rain Man

.

"Political Correctness" is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

You had to know that was coming.

[Wise Old Owl]

Marta you are astute, why hurl insults when we can pick up cow pies by the clean end and hurl them at each other....