I forget exactly what the argument was about.  There have been so many!  But I do remember that someone accused me, or something I was doing, as being “not feminine”.  To which my rejoinder was: I am female, so anything I do is feminine. 

         He (and I do remember it was a he) muttered, “That’s not true”.  I ignored him loftily and keeping doing whatever it was that had offended.

         This was in the 60’s.  Women were just realizing that they were being treated differently than men.  When I started university at U of A, women were not allowed to wear pants on campus before four in the afternoon.  We had dorm hours, and if we checked out of the dorm overnight, we had to send a card to our parents in a timely fashion, such that they would KNOW that we were not planning to spend the night in the dorm.

         I remember one Friday when I was in a bad place, and I told the dorm matron that I was checking myself out to go home for the weekend. Oh, I was told, that is not possible, because if we send a card home stating that you are checking out of the dorm now, you will be there before the card arrives.

         “But,” I protested, “If I get there before the card, my mother will know where I am anyway.”  The matron didn't want to let me go, but I remember that I just stood there until she did.  I am good at just standing until the other person gives in.  The queen of passive-aggressive they called me, back in the day. 

         Imagine a guy putting up with any of that.  Imagine a woman putting up with that today. 

         I transferred to NAU (not because of the dorm rules: they were much the same at NAU) and it was announced that an Honor Dorm would be established in which young ladies with a high grade point average would be allowed to check out a key to the dorm and let themselves in and out, just as if they were men.  Or responsible human beings, or something.  Anyhow, I was in the Honor Dorm before you could say 3. 5 grade average.  I guess women who studied could be trusted not to get pregnant.  Of course, the prevailing idea seemed to be that women could not get pregnant before 10 PM. 

         The NAU Hiking Club required the parents of their female members to sign an agreement that they knew that their offspring would be spending the night off-campus, in the company of young men, possibly (gasp) WITHOUT a chaperone!  I recall hiking to Rainbow Bridge one weekend, and we actually had two chaperones: a male and a female faculty member.  The woman, upon hearing that several of us were camped just around the corner, charged up and made the women move our gear to where she was camped.  After all, we were with men, unchaperoned, and her role that weekend was to protect our virtue. 

         She did not last long.  In fact, we almost never had a faculty member along on overnights.  Dr. Hunt, I recall, was a good Mormon and would not hike on Sunday, and believed that none of us should either. Dr. Butchart hiked with his select few who had been carefully vetted to be sure they could keep up with him.  Dr. Wendstrand rarely accompanied us, but I remember him being jovial and easy going.  He certainly didn’t move the young ladies out of reach of those slavering young men. 

         We had boyfriend and girlfriend couples, but mostly we moved as a group.  At the end of a fifteen-mile off-trail trek, everyone was too tired to slaver anyway. 

         But back to being feminine.  We gals were backpackers.  We carried our own packs, we hiked our own trails, and we didn’t want any special favors.  A few of us with strong, macho boyfriends  had our packs carried out the last mile or so.  Or had said boyfriends carry some of the weight, but these women didn’t really last long. They weren’t SERIOUS enough. 

         Often on the first few day hikes of the year a strapping young male would carry his girlfriend’s lunch and water. I would warn her to grab a water bottle and some food, because she wasn’t going to see him all day.  She would giggle and ignore me.  He would then rush off to stay with the lead group, leaving her bereft and behind.  Also hungry and thirsty.  But she couldn’t say I hadn’t warned her.

         One of the reasons I liked the Hiking Club was because I was not expected to be a Girl.  I wasn’t very good at being a Girl.  I didn’t, and still don’t, wear makeup.  I didn’t, and still don’t, play dumb.  I like math, I like computer programming. I may be helpless about some things, but not because I am ”supposed to”.  

         In the Hiking Club I had found a peer group.  All I had to do to belong was to walk all day without complaining (much), carry my own weight, and not hold everyone back too badly.  And I guess it is not “feminine” to keep up with the guys.  Or be as strong as they are.  Or as smart.  As I say, I don't remember exactly what I was doing to invite the crack about being unfeminine, but it was probably something along those lines.  

         There are women backpackers. They tend to go with groups of other women.  And groups of women are loads of fun, seriously. Or with their boyfriends.  Not so much by themselves. 

Of course, men tend to go with groups of men.  Not so much fun.  Men alone only talk about sports and politics. 

Nowadays there are backpacks made for women (wider in the hips, shorter in the torso).  There are sleeping bags for women (wider in the hips, shorter, and more loft for more warmth).  Boots for women with narrower lasts.  Clothing for women cut for a womanly shape. 

         It seems to be fashionable these days for young women to say they are not feminists.  I don’t know to what they refer. Do they want to be told they can’t wear pants in public before 4 PM?  Do they want to be held hostage in their dorm rooms or apartments because they can’t be trusted out on their own after 10 PM?  Do they want to be told they can’t major in Anthropology because they can’t go on field trips without a female chaperone, and yes, women were told this at U of A in the 1960’s and 70’s.  That they can’t major in Forestry, because they can’t attend Forestry Camp for the same reason?  And yes, women at NAU were told this until Susan Varin became the first woman to graduate in Forestry.    And Becky Cooper the first woman to attend Graduate School in Forestry. 

Do they want to be told that backpacking is unfeminine?  Or running marathons?  Or Ironmen competitions?  (Ironpersons?) It wasn't that long ago that a women had to enter the Boston Marathon as a man.

Or maybe we can just agree that anything a woman does is feminine.  Which is the argument I had lo, those many years ago.