{"id":27428,"date":"2022-07-22T09:00:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T16:00:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=27428"},"modified":"2022-07-10T11:26:04","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T18:26:04","slug":"the-wild-woman-archetype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2022\/07\/22\/the-wild-woman-archetype\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wild Woman Archetype"},"content":{"rendered":"

Humans often have a deeply entrenched idea that we must control nature. We alter landscapes to build infrastructure, we farm down to bare mineral soil, we alter riparian zones for our gardens, and we erect retaining walls to hold back deluges of debris in order to construct a house just where we want it. I find this mentality to be refreshingly absent in the river community.<\/p>\n

River people tend to work with nature rather than against her, standing up against dams and grand-scale alterations to the earth, camping in low-impact areas, and religiously upholding the sacred principles of LNT. River people worship nature and value the river\u2019s natural power. They are emboldened by her energy.<\/p>\n

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From an ecofeminist lens, nowhere is this more apparent than with lady boaters.<\/p>\n

\u201cA river goddess emulates the beauty of the river itself. Life thrives within and around her. She\u2019s peaceful and quiet, and thundering loud. She\u2019s graceful, courageous, and strong.<\/p>\n

A lady boater has no entitlement. You show up to guide and no one expects you to be good at it. Instead, you must be even better than your male counterparts to gain respect. You are expected to be a liability until proven otherwise. You must be wise to overcome a lack of brute muscle power to force yourself out of tricky situations. You are calm and confident when things go haywire.<\/p>\n

Your customers ask, “Are you our guide?” And you just smile and nod, knowing they are better off on your boat than with a male coworker. You ignite a new passion for each person who is lucky enough to have their first experience on the river with you.\u201d – Jess F.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n