Women’s hour - birdwatching. WTF is wrong with some women?

[crawlingovertheline]

Caveat first - I know we’re all different but COME ON women!!
The feature was about a woman birdwatcher called Lucy. She was encouraging other women into bird watching (wonderful).
However, as she was explaining her backstory, she explained how “scary” and “terrifying” and “intimidating” it was….picking up some binoculars. (Yes, you read it right, these were her words) and it was only after two (male) birdwatchers helped her that she felt confident enough going birdwatching.

Now listen, I know some people are not confident but REALLY? REALLY???? You can’t pick up some BINOCULARS without help from a man? (Two men)

Women have fought in wars, we give birth, some fight and strive to survive, are women so weak now we can’t have agency over taking up a completely risk free hobby?

What on earth is happening?
YABU - maybe it really was scary, terrifying and intimidating
YANBU - this is disappointing, come on girl wake up!

I don’t know. Some of them binoculars be heavy…

This is so true! It’s boring now that everything has to be such a big deal. What happened to just getting on with it?!

😂

I agree. DH and I saw this young woman earlier, and we were pissing ourselves laughing at her. Honestly! 😂

Also, in answer to another poster's question, NO, birdwatching is not just for men!

Good grief, are some women really living like this?! Why can't you just ignore any men there if you don't want to talk to them? They need not know you're also spotting, and they may be too invested in the train to even notice you. And if anyone expects you to make tea, just look at them like they're an imbecile and say "do you really not know how to make tea? Just put a teabag in a cup and pour boiling water over it." Then go straight back to whatever you were doing without waiting for a response. (There's also a very good chance they won't ask you to make tea, but will instead be thrilled to meet someone else with the same passion and offer to make you tea while you converse about your favourite trains.) And I imagine if any bloke even noticed what you were reading (unlikely), and wondered about what it meant (drastically unlikely), he'd probably assume you worked in the rail industry. And even if he did think to himself, "ooh, I bet she's one of those train spotters", why on earth would you care?! What possible impact can it have on your life?!

@roibustea Agreed. I found that poster's comment bizarre!.. @Teakettletrio

A peregrine chick has hatched at Nottingham Trent Uni!

services.ntu.ac.uk/live/falcons/

I think that's in your head mate

Not wanting to open the door when you are not expecting anyone is nothing to do with fear (for many...) It's because some people can't be arsed to engage with someone when they're not expecting them. This may come as a shock, but some people are busy doing other things, have plans, and are sometimes doing their actual paid employment, and they don't want to be sitting there entertaining popper-inners, who assume people should drop everything they are doing to entertain them, because they are so terribly important.

Nor do they want to be taking in parcels for people, or be hounded by salesmen, religious callers, and scammers. I think it's odd to always answer the door, every time, and can only surmise that some people have lots of spare time, and are bored, and need the company...

.

I've been a birdwatcher for 60 years. I have never felt any difference with male birdwatchers. Everyone helps everyone else see the bird, generally.

Yes exactly. I am baffled that any woman is afraid to go birdwatching. Since when is it all men? I have always seen a mixture of men and women interested in birds, but more women actually!

@WaryCrow are you posting something with some kind of a link in it? Your posts keep getting hidden?

Yeah, I was surprised and tried the homepage link. It was just to the Derby Cathedral peregrines. I just checked they were still there.

Maybe for her it was terrifying. We are not all the same

Oh that's odd. It's usually only posts with links to things like G0FundMe that are hidden.

One woman with her own hang ups, it could have been a man, she overcame her problems with the help of other people, they could equally have been other women. It doesn't all have to be about gender.

It's a symptom of the attention-seeking gush and hyperbole that now infests our language, everything has to be 'amazing' or 'fantastic', it can't be 'quite pleasant' - and you can't be 'a little nervous' - you have to be 'terrified'.

It's irritating because it makes these words meaningless so it's hard to make an impression when something genuinely extraordinary happens.

Especially if it's her MIL!
This thread shows how the simplest things have suddenly become a problem, 'triggering' , some of the advice sought is as hilarious as it is sad, 'My arm's hanging off, should I call 111 or drive to A and E?'. Lives that have been led for hundreds of years are suddenly a problem, I wonder how many people managed a 2 child family without a lot of the drama described on here!

the only issue is being alone outside.

What's the problem with being alone outside? 🤔

Ok so I thought you were going to slag off birdwatching which I was going to vote YABU for as birds give me so much joy.
But no that is pathetic, YANBU

Loved that programme, showing my age too!

"I think it's odd to always answer the door, every time, and can only surmise that some people have lots of spare time, and are bored, and need the company..."

Well that's a new take on it!😱

Opening the front door when someone unexpectedly knocks or rings is only for people who have lots of spare time, are bored or need the company......😆😅😂🤣

Even if I was WFH, drinking a cuppa while taking a cheeky peak at the Robin in my back garden and simultaneously chatting on the phone..... I would answer the door (and have done many times).

I went for a long walk, with my timid cocker spaniel today. Didn’t see another person for over an hour, in the middle of nowhere. Passed a house of barking dogs and had to reassure my frightened dog.