Gender Norm Impacts on Lived Backcountry Experience: A Collaborative Autoethnography

Considerable research has demonstrated the presence of masculine norms in outdoor adventure education. The resulting values and practices function to ostracize or devalue women leaders, a dynamic that often goes unnoticed by men in the field. Although women's and men's perspectives on their experiences have been studied, to date no research identified by the authors has compared the perspectives of a man and woman leader on the same outdoor excursion. The current research aims to address this gap. Two leaders on a university-sponsored excursion used a comparative autoethnography approach, each journaling about their experiences on a 13-day flat water backcountry canoe trip. The two leaders subsequently performed analysis collaboratively to consider themes arising from the comparison of the two journals. Despite awareness and desire to actively combat gender norms, both leaders performed their gender in ways that adhered to stereotypes. Multiple hegemonic masculine norms were evident in the man's performance, possibly affected by the group composition. Greater critical self-reflection or training is required, particularly for men in outdoor adventure education contexts, to avoid reproducing harmful masculine norms. These results come despite participants' awareness of such norms and professed efforts toward gender equity.