liveonearth | QotD: Women's Place

“Women have their place
in this world,
but they do not belong
in the canyons of the Colorado”

—Buzz Holmstrom in 1938

I ran across this quote while reading a current piece about sexual harassment of women in the whitewater industry. I worked in that industry for a long time, but I had the good luck to begin at the Nantahala Outdoor Center which was one of the most egalitarian river businesses out there. I had been warned but later I found out for myself about residual sexism in the Grand Canyon river industry. I was based in Flagstaff for 7 years in the 2000's, and witnessed river men behaving as if it were still 1938. Time for an update, fellas. You don't get to decide the place of women.