Week 5

In Imperial Ascent, the way masculinity is defined or the way it is not, tells a lot about the day and age in which mountaineering emerges as well as the culture that surrounds the sport as a whole. Every pastime has a story behind it, the origins that give meaning to the motives responsible for…

Women in the Mountains

Bayers, Imperial Ascent, provided a great insight into the way masculinity has dominated the mountaineering world, through analyzing various books. I’m not particularly a huge fan of “books on books”, as I find they tend to be very dry at times, however, I enjoyed the approach Bayers took and found it to be an interesting…

Week 5 Response

The idea of gender within the sport of mountaineering is an interesting idea that appears to reflect the thoughts of gender in society.  The main contention to this argument being the way that men and women are portrayed in the text Imperial Ascent and the reading by Susan Frohlick very differently.  Indeed, one can see that women and…

Week 5 Response

It is surprising to me that the issue of women mountaineering is even an issue worth debating- in terms of how appropriate it is for them to do so. The article, “Wanting the Children and Wanting K2” was the most surprising to me. i suppose that Alison Hargreaves’ death was in 1995, and the cultural…

Mountains: not just for men

“To pursue, always higher, toward the summit. Fate is thus made.” – Claude Kogan Claude Kogan was the proverbial wrench in the spokes of those traditional gender mechanics that had ruled the alpine world for half a century or more. She and her contemporaries were as determined, hardened and enraptured as any man they climbed beside, and but for…

Week 5 – Imperial Ascent Response

Week 5 Response – Am I manly now? Byrant Lymburn In the early 20th century the nations of the US and Britain pushed to the ever mysterious expanses and great heights being found across the earth. After expeditions by Britain  pushed into the Himalayas they were questioned as to why they would ever explore such…

Wanting the Children & Wanting K2

I especially liked the reading regarding women, motherhood, and the workforce because it touches on an area that has not been talked about within discussions but is nonetheless a discussion that is now common and important within the workforce as more and more women enter the working world. What I found most interesting and something…

Week 5: Gender and Mountaineering

What really stuck out to me while reading Imperial Ascent was the nature of men to prove their masculinity through mountaineering. Bayers uses the examples of climbing Denali in Alaska and Mt. Everest to point to the way in which empire and masculinity were connected, but the point that really stuck out to me was…

Week 5, Mountians and Cultural Identity

For weeks we have been stewing over British Imperialism and national pride, when it came to ascension of Mount Everest. The British felt that it would be a national accomplishment to make it to the top of this great mountain. However, mountains being strongly tied with cultural identity was not solely found within the British…