Girls vs Old Men - The Jessica Watson Effect

[CSY Man]

Girls vs Old Men. The Jessica Watson effect!

Don't know about being intimidated by this chick or anybody else, but found it irresponsible to sail solo without a proper lookout as required by the regulations.

Quite selfish to ignore the safety of others just to sail into some record book.

The above of course goes for old men sailing solo around the world, pure ego trip, not sailing or sport.

[CharlieCobra]

Intimidated? Nah. Impressed, yeah. Skeptical at first? You betcha but she proved it wasn't founded.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by Puddlefish

I find the intimidation comment to be misguided and insulting.

Thanks and well done Puddlefish… It is great to hear from someone as articulate as you on a subject I have no experience with.

What you say, as a responsible parent, makes complete sense to me and your last words ring completely true as only someone like you, with years in the trenches, has that right to say.

You have some very lucky girls!

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by Puddlefish

I think her parents are complete and total idiots.

And yet they've raised a daughter with the confidence and skills to reach for her dreams and achieve them.
While I haven't been a particularly close JW watcher and was against this project initially, she's earned my respect and admiration. The maturity and composure with which she handles herself is refreshingly free of arrogance or precociousness.

My impression is that her parents know their daughter well and have provided a homelife where love and support are in abundance. They also appear to have ensured that an experienced and talented team was formed to give their daughter her best chance of success, and sponsors to make it possible financially.

I see no sign of idiocy, just normal homely folk, unlike in some opinionated, self-promoting parents who for some reason resent the attention Jessica is getting when their own, no doubt delightful daughters are wallowing in anonimity.

[Puddlefish]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

And yet they've raised a daughter with the confidence and skills to reach for her dreams and achieve them.
While I haven't been a particularly close JW watcher and was against this project initially, she's earned my respect and admiration. The maturity and composure with which she handles herself is refreshingly free of arrogance or precociousness.

My impression is that her parents know their daughter well and have provided a homelife where love and support are in abundance. They also appear to have ensured that an experienced and talented team was formed to give their daughter her best chance of success, and sponsors to make it possible financially.

I see no sign of idiocy, just normal homely folk, unlike in some opinionated, self-promoting parents who for some reason resent the attention Jessica is getting when their own, no doubt delightful daughters are wallowing in anonimity.

I also have sufficient self confidence that I don't require the adoration of millions. I'm not a fan of attention seeking, and in fact am a rather private person. So, I'm afraid your theory about me is incorrect.

I do respect your opinions on the Watsons for what that's worth.

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by VirtualVagabond

I see no sign of idiocy, just normal homely folk, unlike in some opinionated, self-promoting parents who for some reason resent the attention Jessica is getting when their own, no doubt delightful daughters are wallowing in anonimity.

Is wallowing in anonymity necessarily a bad thing for a 16 year old?

When I look at the crass commercialism of the Britney Spears and other kids like Miley Cyrus, I wonder....are you being a parent or just along for the ride because of the potential millions of $ in marketing potential?

Tough question, that I am not equipped to answer....

The only difference I see (between Jessica's attempt and and adults) is that IF something had gone wrong and Jesse did not make it, would we have had the same…. Well she gave it a shot and lost… kind of response to her death?

Or would there have been some serious souls searching as collective parents?

That question I find intimidating.

[sarafina]

Originally Posted by Puddlefish

I think her parents are complete and total idiots. I have no problem with her at all.

Good luck around here with that eminently practical and reasonable adult view. Experience as sailors allows one an opinion. Experience as Aussies allows one (at least ; -) an opinion. Experience as parents is of no practical or justifiable use to this conversation.

Common sense isn't much appreciated either.

I am very happy she came around intact. I hope it was a good experience for her.

I still figure it's a case of 'It's smarter to be lucky than it's lucky to be smart...'

[Eleven]

I still don't get it.
She's doing what she wanted to do. Fine. Why all the hO hAA?
She's missed some great places and great people on the way.

[Puddlefish]

Well, the point of this thread is to discuss why old men are intimidated. I tried to point out one reason why it's alright to disagree with her venture without being labeled "intimidated." Several other people have pointed out different reasons why intimidation isn't the appropriate word.

Maybe some old men are intimidated by young girls, I have no idea. I find the concept rather unlikely, but that's just my opinion. I've parented, I've coached, I've spent a lot of time around teenagers. I haven't been intimidated by a teenager since I was sixteen myself.

Take care folks, time for the productive part of my day.

[Bash]

"Intimidated" is the wrong word. Troubled? That might fit my own feelings better. In my case it has nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with how this girl played the gender card. Her first step in planning her trip was to paint the boat pink and hold a press conference. Second step was to plaster the internet with posed photos highlighting her femininity. She followed up all this publicity by ramming the pink boat into a freighter her first night out. Ouch.

We've raised a generation of young people more concerned about how experience will play out on their facebook pages than in actually reflecting on lived experience. I'd be much more impressed by a voyage where a young person, male or female, quietly and reflectively went about the process of passage-making as a voyage of discovery. Rather than blogging about how many times you've been knocked down, learn to sail in such a way that knockdowns are avoided. Then, once you've completed your quest, take the reflection a step further, again quietly, via memoir. At that point you may have something worth reading.

A young woman dropped by my office hours last week to ask for a letter of recommendation in support of a grant application she is about to submit. This student will graduate from college in a few weeks, and then will spend the next two years in the Peace Corps in Central America counseling village women on matters of reproductive health, especially in terms of reducing the incidence of HIV transmission. No press releases, no glamor poses, no pink boats. When I compare the voyage upon which this student is embarking with the voyage just completed by J. Watson, there's no question in my mind which one the old men of this world should be celebrating.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by surfingminniwinni

What was it about Jessica that intimidated so many men?

So, like where did you see those intimidated old men? I have seen none around.

Do you work in a geriatric hospital or something?

barnie

[Pelagic]

Well said Bash

[Target9000]

I'm so scared... So scared... So angry... So humiliated...

Jeez... She did it. She really did it. I can't believe it. I'm less of a man now.


Feel better? I'll play the intimidated dude if it lets everyone go on with the discussion.

[FxdGrMind]

Intimidated.... old men.... Hu????

Why? She made it! She is far too young for me, but I'd be happy to have her Captain the boat arround the world while I relax and kick back...

As for to young... I'm sorry, what plannet are people from. There are cultures arround the world where 16 means Married off and 3 kids by now! Are you kidding me, Solo arround the world is like Nothing to that! The learning in the preparation alone is worth an equivalent College degree and here she is only 16 ok 17 now.

I'd say that for her, accomplishing a dream, learning from it, is easily worth it. I fully don't understand the reasoning where people frown on her or her parrents for doing it.

Cheers and Congrats to her.

Later.

[Mariness]

Originally Posted by Bash

A young woman dropped by my office hours last week to ask for a letter of recommendation in support of a grant application she is about to submit. This student will graduate from college in a few weeks, and then will spend the next two years in the Peace Corps in Central America counseling village women on matters of reproductive health, especially in terms of reducing the incidence of HIV transmission. No press releases, no glamor poses, no pink boats. When I compare the voyage upon which this student is embarking with the voyage just completed by J. Watson, there's no question in my mind which one the old men of this world should be celebrating.

Of course what this person is doing is very worthwhile and should be celebrated. But there will still be plenty of people who would say she shouldn't do it. And they'll have plenty of reasons that sound good on the surface:
--She's just finished college - a potentially expensive degree. Why is she wasting her time volunteering instead of getting a job to earn some money and pay off those student loans?
--A young American woman, traveling to Central America, without husband or boyfriend? Doesn't she know that women aren't treated the same there?
--Doesn't she know the political climate there? She must be crazy to want to me anywhere near it.

FTR, I don't believe any of those things. But people will say them (or would if they knew of her plans), and they are the same people who said negatives of Jessica's plan.
If my daughter (or son, should I have one) ever tries to do something huge like this, you better believe I will send them out to look for sponsorships! 2 reasons:
1. I can't afford it, so they better find someone else who can.
2. Marketing and networking and press relations can all be useful skills.

Women do this to each other all the time. We judge the others because we think their life choices (stay at home vs. career, breast vs. bottle, cloth vs. disposable...it's pretty much everything) are inherently a critique of our own choices. So if they choose as we would or did, we approve. If they choose differently, we see a criticism and disapprove. Thus the perception that women are always in competition, even with their friends.
Maybe men do this too, I wouldn't know since I'm not one. But the people complaining about Jessica, IMO are doing exactly that. They see her following her dreams, taking big risks in the hope of big rewards, doing something that they themselves might even have talked about doing (but didn't) --- and they see an implicit criticism of their own life choices, so they react defensively. Some people raised common-sense concerns about her journey, but the ones that seem truly "intimidated" or are foaming at the mouth over it, this is what I would suspect is going on.