Aubrey Garman
Doctor Jennings
Campus Woods – Ecology & Place
16 September 2022
The Effect of Masculinity in Regard to the Wilderness
Watch as a forester makes his way through a clearing, his boots leaving only but a trace of life behind. Axe in one hand, a log in the other. He is burly, masculine in every sense of the word, and he is celebrated. This idea of a man walking through the forest, taking in the energy of the plants and animals, is the definition of masculine to many people. However, if you watch a woman push a branch out of the way and make her way through the same space, she is labeled as crazy. A spike is placed behind her back as she’s labeled a witch, someone who is out of her right mind, just because she’s connecting with her roots. This ideologized belief stems from years of discrimination towards women in wilderness spaces and the upliftment of men in those same spaces. Men control those spaces and in turn use the patriarchal system to reject women from the wilderness which can affect the relationship that young girls/girl scouts have with said wilderness.
For hundreds of years, men have dominated the wilderness world. This very idea parallels that of the patriarchal hold on women. Both nature and women have grown to be “controlled and manipulated to satisfy masculinist desires” (Vance 60). It is the idea that the wilderness is undiscovered, as well the “feminine” mind. That if they escape from the grips of masculine they will become out of control and become their own entities. Which effects the personification of the wilderness and the dehumanization of women as their own persons. This can lead to things like the boy scouts versus girl scouts or the saying: ‘boys will be boys’. An enormous difference between boy scouts and girl scouts is the connection with the woods and their interactions with the wilderness. For instance, boy scouts will have badges that interact with camping in tents to starting fires with no lighters. Meanwhile girl scouts have badges for staying in cabins in the wilderness or creating arts and crafts. In Vandalia, Ohio, there is a section of woods dedicated to boy scouts and does not allow anyone in who is not a boy scout. This ingrains the idea of wilderness connections within young boys, but not young girls who want to experience the same things. Which adds on to the idea of ‘boys will be boys’. By giving them a space to be wild and connect with their inner Lord of the Flies, they are able to escape accountability that comes with violence. Young girls do not get that space, I never had that space in girl scouts, so when girls act out, they are scrutinized. Which impacts their view of the wilderness and the beauty found within.
The wilderness is a vessel for masculine ideologies, used by men to hide the beauty and sophistication of it from women. It is used by men, even unintentionally, to disconnect themselves from humanity and blend within wilderness spaces. Typically this disconnect is found within camping trips (sometimes with other men/boys), hunting, fishing, etc. Men group together and leave behind their families to sleep under the stars and really connect with the Earth and the mysteries they hold. The issue with this, is the exclusion of women within these spaces. Women are typically left out of events like this to stay home and live within the cozy walls of humanity. My life has been quite similar when watching my family members interact. From my brothers camping with my grandpa without me to all of the men in the family going outside and hanging around the dirt and trees while the women stay inside cooking and getting ready for the meals. Excluding women also excludes young girls, leaving them inside with their mothers, something similar to what I went through as a child. Due to this, I’ve always had a disconnect with nature, having to somehow find it in my young adult lives to really connect with the wildlife and the world around me.
Throughout my personal life, I have never connected with nature; however, my brothers did. They were able to find a way to camp out with my grandpa and make it a boys’ weekend or chop wood with my stepdad. I never found a way to do that very same thing. This illusion that is brought upon young girls to be clean and to stay within the confines of a house is integrated early in life. My family never stopped me from exploring the outside, but from Disney channel to making bracelets instead of fires in girl scouts, which was never a thought for me. However, after reflecting upon this very idea, it is like something flipped a switch within my head. That nature is beautiful and scary all within its own respect. From oyster mushrooms to dolls eyes, there’s unique organisms that I can connect with just by walking by them. That is what young girls miss when they are deprived of a space that allows them to be free and ‘wild’. Instead they are stuck inside, much like myself, wondering when their day will come that will allow for fascinations and respect for world around them.
The wilderness is not owned in a sense; however, men have found a way to contain it within their hands, just like how they have used the patriarch to contain and control women. That control starts from an early age with the disconnect created due to shows, novels, and the differences made between the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. An idea of gender separation and their interaction with the wilderness goes back hundreds of years as the Europeans make their way into Northern America. People make these separations with the descriptions of lumberjacks and their connection and control of the wilderness. From the axe in their hand to the log cabin that sits five feet away from him that he made with his bare hands, he is in control. In control of not only women, but of the wilderness that gives him that masculinity.
Work Cited
Vance, Linda. “Ecofeminism and Wilderness.” NWSA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, Women, Ecology, and the Environment (Autumn,
1997), pp. 60-76. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Accessed 16 September 2022.
Doctor Jennings
Campus Woods – Ecology & Place
16 September 2022
The Effect of Masculinity in Regard to the Wilderness
Watch as a forester makes his way through a clearing, his boots leaving only but a trace of life behind. Axe in one hand, a log in the other. He is burly, masculine in every sense of the word, and he is celebrated. This idea of a man walking through the forest, taking in the energy of the plants and animals, is the definition of masculine to many people. However, if you watch a woman push a branch out of the way and make her way through the same space, she is labeled as crazy. A spike is placed behind her back as she’s labeled a witch, someone who is out of her right mind, just because she’s connecting with her roots. This ideologized belief stems from years of discrimination towards women in wilderness spaces and the upliftment of men in those same spaces. Men control those spaces and in turn use the patriarchal system to reject women from the wilderness which can affect the relationship that young girls/girl scouts have with said wilderness.
For hundreds of years, men have dominated the wilderness world. This very idea parallels that of the patriarchal hold on women. Both nature and women have grown to be “controlled and manipulated to satisfy masculinist desires” (Vance 60). It is the idea that the wilderness is undiscovered, as well the “feminine” mind. That if they escape from the grips of masculine they will become out of control and become their own entities. Which effects the personification of the wilderness and the dehumanization of women as their own persons. This can lead to things like the boy scouts versus girl scouts or the saying: ‘boys will be boys’. An enormous difference between boy scouts and girl scouts is the connection with the woods and their interactions with the wilderness. For instance, boy scouts will have badges that interact with camping in tents to starting fires with no lighters. Meanwhile girl scouts have badges for staying in cabins in the wilderness or creating arts and crafts. In Vandalia, Ohio, there is a section of woods dedicated to boy scouts and does not allow anyone in who is not a boy scout. This ingrains the idea of wilderness connections within young boys, but not young girls who want to experience the same things. Which adds on to the idea of ‘boys will be boys’. By giving them a space to be wild and connect with their inner Lord of the Flies, they are able to escape accountability that comes with violence. Young girls do not get that space, I never had that space in girl scouts, so when girls act out, they are scrutinized. Which impacts their view of the wilderness and the beauty found within.
The wilderness is a vessel for masculine ideologies, used by men to hide the beauty and sophistication of it from women. It is used by men, even unintentionally, to disconnect themselves from humanity and blend within wilderness spaces. Typically this disconnect is found within camping trips (sometimes with other men/boys), hunting, fishing, etc. Men group together and leave behind their families to sleep under the stars and really connect with the Earth and the mysteries they hold. The issue with this, is the exclusion of women within these spaces. Women are typically left out of events like this to stay home and live within the cozy walls of humanity. My life has been quite similar when watching my family members interact. From my brothers camping with my grandpa without me to all of the men in the family going outside and hanging around the dirt and trees while the women stay inside cooking and getting ready for the meals. Excluding women also excludes young girls, leaving them inside with their mothers, something similar to what I went through as a child. Due to this, I’ve always had a disconnect with nature, having to somehow find it in my young adult lives to really connect with the wildlife and the world around me.
Throughout my personal life, I have never connected with nature; however, my brothers did. They were able to find a way to camp out with my grandpa and make it a boys’ weekend or chop wood with my stepdad. I never found a way to do that very same thing. This illusion that is brought upon young girls to be clean and to stay within the confines of a house is integrated early in life. My family never stopped me from exploring the outside, but from Disney channel to making bracelets instead of fires in girl scouts, which was never a thought for me. However, after reflecting upon this very idea, it is like something flipped a switch within my head. That nature is beautiful and scary all within its own respect. From oyster mushrooms to dolls eyes, there’s unique organisms that I can connect with just by walking by them. That is what young girls miss when they are deprived of a space that allows them to be free and ‘wild’. Instead they are stuck inside, much like myself, wondering when their day will come that will allow for fascinations and respect for world around them.
The wilderness is not owned in a sense; however, men have found a way to contain it within their hands, just like how they have used the patriarch to contain and control women. That control starts from an early age with the disconnect created due to shows, novels, and the differences made between the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. An idea of gender separation and their interaction with the wilderness goes back hundreds of years as the Europeans make their way into Northern America. People make these separations with the descriptions of lumberjacks and their connection and control of the wilderness. From the axe in their hand to the log cabin that sits five feet away from him that he made with his bare hands, he is in control. In control of not only women, but of the wilderness that gives him that masculinity.
Work Cited
Vance, Linda. “Ecofeminism and Wilderness.” NWSA Journal, Vol. 9, No. 3, Women, Ecology, and the Environment (Autumn,
1997), pp. 60-76. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Accessed 16 September 2022.