Empowerment of the Woman Hunter

I am a woman and I hunt.  I have have hunted and enjoyed it for as long as I can remember.  I was never taught that there was a gender issue involved when it comes to hunting.  My anatomy has nothing to do with why I love to hunt.  I hunt because I loved those early mornings in the woods with my family. I love nature.  I love the smell of the woods, the earth, the trees, the flowers,and even the moisture in the air. I love watching the animals in their natural habitat; the birds fluttering around from spot to spot and the squirrels working hard in the fall to prepare for winter.  I love the sounds of nature and trying to figure out what made the sound if I had not heard it before.  I truly love it all.  I was immersed in it as a child and I fondly recall those memories even still while I hunt.   Both of my parents hunted.  My mother has as many success stories as anyone else in my family.  I do not really recall her bow hunting, but not because she was a woman and there was a different social acceptance on it; the reason she didn't is because she preferred the rifle and did well with it.  My parents taught me how to shoot, how to sit quietly, how to track, and how to imitate the sounds that nature makes.  We may or may not have seen much in the way of what we were hunting but we did  enjoy ourselves very much.  The same things they taught me as a child I now pass on to my children. 

As I have gotten older I  was told that it was strange that I hunted and loved it so much.  I was not trying to make a statement by carrying on the traditions of my family.  I just loved it.  Now that I am older the list of  things that I love about hunting has grown.  I love taking the animals that we have taken and making a meal for my family from it.  We often feast on wild game that one of us have taken.  These animals and fowls feed us very well and we often share with those that love the meat but choose not to hunt. 

We cannot really say that it is traditional for the men to hunt and the women to take care of the home.  There are many tribes of people throughout the centuries that have gladly shared both of these responsibilities.  The Crow tribe of North America, the Aka people of central Africa, the Agta people of the Phillipines, the Inuit people of the Arctic, and the Martu people of Australia are all different groups of people that gender roles and responsibilities are shared.  The women could hunt and fish, as well as the men sewing and taking care of the children if the community needed it.  These mentioned are only five tribes of thousands of hunter-gatherers from around the world, living in different environments, demonstrating that women are socially and biologically capable of hunting large game, providing further evidence that the rigid gender roles of modern Western culture are not an inherent characteristic of the human species, but merrily labels that we have adopted over time and limited the capabilities of who we could be.

I often hear that women need to "empower" other women to hunt.  I have to admit that this saying bothers me quite a bit.  According to the dictionary the word empower means "to give someone the power or authority to do something."  Women hunting is not a new thing so that phrase baffles me.  By saying women are empowering other women to hunt implies that women are suppressed and needing permission from others to hunt.  Why, especially in this day and age,  would a woman have to be told or made to feel "empowered" to do anything?  That phrase only feeds in to the insecurities that just because you are a woman you are not "good enough".   If that phrase holds true then who are we looking to for permission to hunt?  Is it our husbands?  I doubt that, because most men I know would love for their wives or girlfriends to hunt.  Is it other women?  Surely not.  If a woman chooses to hunt then it should be because she loves it and wants to learn more about it and not because another person gives her permission to do so.  She should do it to provide food for her family and knowledge to better herself as a person.   Is it society?  In my experience "society" seems to be very flawed when it comes to gender roles.  Society tells us that sex sells, so many women hunters fall into the trap of thinking that they must be "sexy" to be able to hunt or be a part of the hunting community.  There is a stark contrast between the scantily clad women trying to sell you camouflage in a bikini when the actual purpose of camouflage is to not reveal yourself.  Many clothing companies in the hunting industry try to accentuate the female form instead of it's usefulness on the hunt.  Sure sex sells but if you are truly "selling sex" then is that not a form of prostitution? Of course, I say that "tongue in cheek" because the last thing female hunters need is someone trying to hold them back but I used those words to make you think. I want you to see how little sex and hunting has to do with each other.  If we enter the beautiful world of hunting or shooting under the facade that we must make it sensual,  it will ultimately limit who we can become. Instead of "empowering" each other, since we have found out how flawed that word is, we need to "equip" each other to be the best hunter that we are capable of being.  Out of all of these just discussed society is the one that turns hunting sexual but again what does that really have to do with hunting!

I am often asked what do I think about all of the new equipment on the market for women hunters.  Some of it coming in pinks and other colors.  I am actually in favor of those items as long as they have proper function.  If having a pink string on your bow or pink accessories on any of your hunting gear helps you love your equipment and like hunting then I am by all means for it.  I think they do have their place and a little feminine look to your equipment is not a bad thing.  That is merely personal choice.  Many men enjoy making their equipment personal as well so there is no need for insecurities with the color you choose to make your own property personal.  Making something your own by adding a personal touch may do absolutely nothing for the hunt but if it makes you love it and gives you a higher regard for it then do it!

I think women hunting is great.  I think more women should be in the woods but I think the best way to get more women hunting is to raise them to be hunters.  To honor and respect the game they pursue and to keep that part of our heritage alive.  Instead of focusing on only women being in the woods, as they have been since the world began, I believe we should focus on all children learning the proper ways hunting and handling weapons and to respect the animal that they have chosen to provide food for themselves. Another way is to invite new hunters that may not have been raised as hunters into the woods with you.  To help them find the knowledge they seek to become better hunters and to be able to cook what they have claimed.  I do not think that this is "empowering" future hunters.  I believe that it is "equipping" them to be self sustaining.  We should teach both children and new hunters that just because society perceives something to be abnormal that it doesn't make it right or wrong.  Society has a funny way of changing over time and cannot ultimately be trusted to lead us in the right direction.