A History of Women's Climbing Literature Sydney Stokoe ENGL 503.30-01 Fo

1 University of Calgary An Easy Day for a Lady: A History of Women’s Climbing Literature Sydney Stokoe ENGL 503.30-01 For: Harry Vandervlist December 15, 2014 2 Climbing and adventure writing is a gateway for the general population to experience the challenge and joy of outdoor sports from the comfort of their own homes. From the climbing memoirs of Conrad Kain, Wade Davis and John Krakauer, to the outdoor tales of Bill Bryson and Sid Marty, the stories and characters inspire people to go outside and follow in the footsteps of the authors. These books hold the history of the struggle and perseverance that one needs in the mountains, they allow readers of all walks of life to put themselves in the adventurer’s shoes and feel, if only for brief moment, what it feels like to push the limits of possibility. The body of authors producing adventure literature, until recently, has been almost entirely male. While the historical record shows women have been a part of the climbing community for over 200 years, it was not until recently, that the full history of female mountaineers has been Acknowledge and published. Representation in media is an important issue that is being discussed across mainstream and alternative media right now. From Hollywood movies, to videogame journalism, the exclusion of women has been a problem that has garnered attention. This is true also for the adventure sport community. The majority of big name climbers in film festivals, and the vast majority of winners of prestigious adventure writing awards are men. Even in our modern era, the voices of mountain women are not being heard at the same volume as those of their male counterparts. Given that over 40% of the modern climbing community is female, we should expect to see a larger number of female climbing writers. However it is important to remember that climbing, like any subculture, does not exist within a vacuum. The social forces at play in general societies are also at play in the climbing subculture. There is no denying that throughout history, the experiences of women have been subject to strong 3 social biases. This translates into a reduced numbers of works being produced by female writers, and into less public awareness of the ascents being made by female climbers. Women’s climbing history is largely reflective of the period in which they lived. Women dealt with the same struggles in education and the workforce as they did in climbing. As the nature of society evolved, so did the nature of climbing. The first record of a woman climbing a large mountain was in 1808, when Marie Paradis summited Mount Blanc, carried to the top of the mountain by her guides. She did not write about her ascent except in letters to family. In the early days of women’s climbing, documentation and publication was done primarily by men, many of whom stripped the names of the female climbers from the document, or reduced them to initials removing their gender from the article altogether (Birkett, 25). It was not until the later part of the 19th century that women began to gain traction in the climbing world, running their own expeditions, and producing published works. This coincided with the emergence of the suffrage movement, which many female climbers were involved with. The fight for suffrage came at a time when the majority of women, particularly those born to wealthy families, did not work outside the home. The upper classes had greater accessibility to education and greater leisure time. During the Victorian era, climbing was an activity of science and the leisure class. Climbing in Europe was a white-collar activity, and large expeditions to Asia or South America were undertaken in the name of science and discovery. Women in the early days of climbing literature were not only pushing the physical boundaries of harsh weather and difficult travel in mountain environments, they were pushing against societal repression and extreme gender inequality. For women in 4 Victorian society to venture into the adventure sport world required no small amount of breaking down the walls of “proper” ladylike behavior. Corsets and heavy woolen dresses restricted movement and breathing. Some chose to remain in floor length skirts and hats with veils, while others elected to shirk convention and move to a more modern, and practical dress style. Fanny Bullock Workman climbed in full Victorian dress including heavy wool skirts for her whole climbing career, while her rival Annie Smith Peck chose to climb in bloomers. Peck’s decision to lose the skirt in favor of the more practical outfit was considered a serious scandal. Some woman climbers used climbing as their opportunity to express their political values to the world, or to be financially independent, publishing accounts of their expeditions in periodicals. This allowed women not only a way to finance their expeditions, but a chance to be seen and recognized in the historic record alongside their male counterparts. Annie Smith Peck and Fanny Bullock Workman, two Victorian era climbers made an indelible mark on women’s climbing history. While embittered in personal rivalries over altitude achievements, both Annie Smith Peck and Fanny Bullock Workman were strong supporters of early feminist movements, and were well known for their activities in the Women’s Suffrage movement. Both went so far as to take photographs with banners or Newspaper headlines declaring “VOTES FOR WOMEN” while on expedition (Brown, xii). Peck’s image was featured in advertisements for Singer sewing machines, with the idea that women would glue Peck’s picture into their sewing benches as a source of inspiration. In Peck and Workman’s day, the abilities of women were vastly underestimated. Women were seen as too weak, both physically and mentally, to carry out the tasks given 5 to men. Medical professionals of the day saw mild exercise as a way to encourage “mental stability” in women (Ernie-Steighner, 30), both Peck and Workman set forth the idea that women were inherently strong and capable, and that their ability to climb alongside men was proof of this. Peck included her feminist ideals in her writing, and in interviews with newspapers. She wrote a great deal on how women should be able to determine their own limitations, rather than being told so by men. She was quoted as saying “That women’s sphere should be prescribed by men, that men know better what is womanly and what we are capable than do we ourselves, has not seemed to me logical or proper.” (Ernie-Stighner, 26). The pinnacle of Peck’s climbing career was the successful summit of Huascaran in Peru, which at the time was believed to be the highest mountain in South America. Following the climb, reports of her trip were published all across the United States and Europe, heralding her as one of the top female climbers. Peck, responded to this saying “A woman who has done good work in the scholastic world doesn’t like to be called a good woman scholar. Call her a good scholar and let it go at that… Don’t call me a woman mountain climber.” (Scialdone-Kimberley, 1) At the height of her achievements, Peck was a prominent figure in suffrage circles, providing a model of what women were capable physically. Her educational advantages and familial prowess allowed her a voice that was taken seriously by those in positions of power. The same can be said for Bullock, she travelled and wrote extensively with her husband William Hunter Workman, a respected climber and scientist himself. She was also fortunate to be born to a wealthy family, which provided her the opportunity to gain education and teach her leadership skills that she would need in her future endeavors, both personally and politically. At the time, climbing was an activity of the 6 leisure class. The wealthy had the time and resources to devote their energy to mountain exploration. Long expeditions were primarily scientific in nature and mountaineers were well educated. As with their emergence in climbing, the scholarly world was also a relatively modern option for women, and wealthier women were afforded more freedom and opportunity to receive formal education. Within the climbing culture itself, women climbers and explorers had other barriers to cross to be accepted within the field as being able to contribute important thoughts and achievements to the subculture. Numerous geographical and adventure societies existed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The initial rejection of women from geographic societies sparked the beginning of women’s specific climbing clubs. As time wore on, women were not only putting up numerous notable ascents, but also contributing greatly to the advancement of scientific expeditions in the far reaches of the mountains. One after the other, geographic societies began to accept women fellows into their ranks. One of the last, and perhaps the most prestigious of these societies to accept women fellows was the Royal Geographic Society (RGS) in England. Workman was among the first women to be granted fellowship into the RGS. The debate over the admission of female fellows took over 20 years (Bell, 295). During this time, the arguments being made to keep female members out reflected greater society. Though numerous woman scholars had presented to the society, given lectures, and been awarded great honors for their contributions to the field, Society members such as Lord Curzon still felt that “Their sex and training render them equally unfitted for exploration, and the genus of professional female globe-trotters with which America has lately familiarized us is one of the horrors of the latter end of the nineteenth century.” (Bell, 7 298).

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