Abstract
The degree to which policy, practice, and facilities accommodate trans and non-binary participants in outdoor programmes has been subject to limited research. The outdoors can be a heavily gendered space, demonstrative of both heteronormativity and hegemonic masculinity. This research explores current practices and the awareness, confidence and desire for inclusivity amongst outdoor practitioners. It adopts a bricolage approach involving composite vignettes with qualitative data obtained through questionnaires and interviews, and reports on the lived experience of trans and non-binary outdoor practitioners and participants, and expert inclusivity trainers in the UK. The data indicate that aspects of outdoor programming policy in respect of gender are unsuitable, outdated and incongruent with the opinions and aspirations of many practitioners and participants. The findings should encourage outdoor providers to review their policies in relation to gender and to strive for explicit inclusivity in respect of accommodating and welcoming gender variant participants.
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Notes
Trans. Currently the most inclusive ‘umbrella term’ to describe a large pool of individuals whose gender is different from their gender assigned at birth. This might include people who are transgender, transsexual, non-binary, gender fluid, agender, and many more. Like much of the English language, this may well change in years to come.
Non-binary. An ‘umbrella term’ for someone who does not identify as male or female. Colloquially referred to as ‘enby’, or ‘nb’.
Cis/Cisgender. Someone whose gender is the same as the gender they were assigned at birth. For example, if you had ‘MALE’ printed on your birth certificate, and in life you also identify as a man, then you are cis.
Ghyll scrambling (also known as gorge walking) is ascending a stream. It may include negotiating natural obstacles in the stream bed or edges, climbing waterfalls and/or jum** into pools of water.
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Bren, C., Prince, H.E. The experiences of trans and non-binary participants in residential and non-residential outdoor programmes. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education 25, 27–45 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-021-00092-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42322-021-00092-9