Creating a safe space

When asked why they attended a SheJumps event, the participants at the ice climbing event offered a mixture of reasons such as learning a new skill, meeting other women to recreate with and just having a fun experience. They also all touched on the idea of learning in a safe space, surrounded by other women.

Fleyshgakker explains this a few different ways. For one, she said there’s an inherent difference between feminine energy and masculine energy. Women offer each other a different kind of support when doing hard, physical things than men tend to offer.

“Women understand each other so much better than men understand us,” Fleyshgakker said. “And that’s not wrong, and it’s not saying there’s anything bad about it.”

There’s also a literal element of safety. Smallwood points to studies that show that groups travelling in avalanche terrain with at least one woman tend to experience fewer accidents than all-male groups. Women tend to be a little more careful, a little more calculated in their risk taking, she explained.

At the same time, women might not want to speak up about safety concerns if they’re in a group full of men because they may feel like they have to overcome the stereotype that they are weak or scared. In an all-female group, women feel more free to ask questions.

“I’m not afraid to say what’s on my mind because I feel comfortable telling another woman this, as opposed to telling a man who might think that I’m weak or not capable of being here on my own two feet,” Smallwood said.

On top of all this, Fleyshgakker said, the all-female groups offer a comfortable learning environment for women who have endured some of the most significant challenges of growing up in a woman’s skin.

“There are women who were abused in their childhood, who have been sexually harassed for as long as they can remember, who can’t go to the gym without getting hit on,” she said.

Not every woman who participates in a SheJumps event may need this kind of support, but Fleyshgakker said it’s important to offer an environment that’s non-threatening to every woman, no matter her background.

“I think it’s a really important thing to create for those women who are the most scared in their skin," she said.