"Stepping Around Things": Gender Relationships in Climbing‪.‬

Abstract This paper explores the perceptions of a group of rockclimbers in order to develop an understanding of the effects of gender on the construction of the personal meaning of climbing. It appears that generalised and stereotypical gendered assumptions play a part in the expectations that climbers have of each other: men will be focussed on the activity and women will be focussed on relationships. These expectations were both supported and resisted by the desires and actions of individual climbers. A common meaning emerged for both men and women: rockclimbing as an activity that is challenging and intense provides the necessary context that encourages the development of a particular type of relationship. It is argued that an exclusive focus on either activity or relationship will inhibit the realisation of this meaning.