Eyes wide shut : a history of blindness towards the feminine in outdoor education in Australia

Carol Lee Birrell

Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

I wanted a place where students could stop and pause to listen to the sounds of rocks being tumbled together, where they could witness the extraordinary happenings of the natural world like dolphins giving birth. I did not want the place to reflect the hapless, oblivious Oscar “who saw nothing” still floating down the river, in “country [that was] filled with stories more ancient than the ones he held in his sweat-slipping leather Bible. He did not even imagine their presence.” Now fast-forward to a coming together of a group of outdoor education women in 2015, planning a book all about women in the outdoors, and all hell breaks loose! It was as if the dams were destroyed, voices held behind barriers for so long, finally released. Our eyes had been blinded, too, and as we removed our own shaky blindfolds by sharing the stories of our lives, in our own personal histories related to outdoor education, our struggles as females to have a voice, to be a voice for all women, young and old, something new was born. It was hope.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Outdoor Learning
EditorsTonia Gray, Denise Mitten
Place of PublicationSwitzerland
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages473-488
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9783319535500
ISBN (Print)9783319535494
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Australia
  • outdoor education
  • women

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