Insult

Today I went trail running. And it was oh-so-heavenly!! I ran 8 miles in 1:25:and some (didn't wear a watch, just timed with my phone)...it's 20 degrees, 18mph winds, snowed about 2 inches last night. Crispy and COLD! I was fine until the last mile or so, at which point I was running directly into the wind up on a ridge (well, other than the three steep up-down climbs that gave me some respite). My face felt like it was gonna be numb for the rest of my life. Beautiful! I just might be ready for another half here in a bit.

Anyway.

When I run the trail system that this 8-miler (the trail itself is only 6.8 miles, but I start from my in-laws' house, which is .5 miles from the trailhead) is part of, I frequently run into troops of Boy Scouts (and their leaders, bless their hearts - in the Miranda Lambert sense of that expression...about 40 seconds into the song, if you follow the link) on the shorter loops off the end and middle of the long loop I run. Very rarely, I find a troop out on the stretch that's only the 6.8 mile trail.

Frequently, these boys are in poor shape. Either they're very young, they have shoes on that aren't suited for the hiking (seriously, I get that not everyone can buy the latest-greatest shoes, but flip flops? Where are the instructions??), or they're overweight . I always smile and try to say something encouraging.....I run the trail a LOT, so I know what's coming up basically at any point along the way. I'll say "Hey, you've got 20 more yards and then just one more climb til you're out" or "You're past halfway!" or something like that. You know, just try to be nice and give them a pat on the head.

Today, there were boys out with a leader on the long trail.....in the weather I described above (again, bless that leader's heart). After I popped out my earbuds (which had been spouting a delightful shuffle of the Beatles, Jack Johnson, Miranda Lambert, Simon and Garfunkel, Dave Matthews Band, Norah Jones, Nickel Creek, Chopin, Lady Antebellum, James Taylor, and Dar Williams -when you run for an hour and a half you have time for great variety) long enough to say "Hey, great day! You guys are doing great" I heard their leader say "See that, guys? She's a GIRL [emphasis his], and she's RUNNING this! You gotta pick it up. Quit whining!"

Several things went through my head.

1) Ha, one of those men to whom every female, regardless of their age, is a perpetual child. Bless his heart.
2) Maybe I should turn around and point out to this idiot that, while he and his boys may be "outdoorsy" and hike once in a while, I run miles upon miles every day, and am therefore in much better shape to be running than those boys - who probably spend more time on the couch than on their feet - are to be even walking.
3) I'm wearing cold gear - Mizuno breath-thermo tights and jacket, polyester under-layer, thick socks, shoes that drain the water out, gloves, headband....and you, bless your heart, have these kids out here in jeans and jackets.
4) I run this trail multiple times a month. It's much easier for me to engage in a healthy push-then-rest pace because I KNOW WHAT I HAVE LEFT. Little boys who have no grasp of just how far 7 miles is, are gonna struggle. Poor kids.

And because I was in a reasonable mood and cruising along much too nicely to be of a mind for an interruption/confrontation, I rambled on, carefully putting my earbuds in (which ironically were playing Dar Williams' "When I Was a Boy" - GREAT song - note that I love Dar for her lyrics...her music's okay, but the LYRICS!) to drown out any further misogynist nonsense.

Note that I'm not concerned about the effect of this man's misogyny on me (I kept right on cruising, and will probably forget about his whole thing in a matter of days), but rather on his boys. They're the ones that, through numerous micro-agressions of this sort, will grow up with the idea that being a girl, or resembling one, is shameful. That if you're a boy who's "girly," then you're "whining." This has put me in mind of a quote my friend Vanessa sent me today - that the worst insults you can throw at a girl are names for girls with some tie to their sexuality (slut, bitch, c*&t, etc), and the worst names you can call a boy have to do with - wait for it - BEING A GIRL!

I hereby resolve today to try harder to create a world with more gender-inclusive feminism. I will, from now on, actively discourage such insults, and teach all children and young people, male and female, that they have valuable traits, regardless of which gender those traits are typically associated with.

Oh wait. I've already been doing that. Guess the run in with the Scout leader (bless his heart) just reinforced my resolve.