Apparently by age twenty-five most women should be married, own a house with a white-picket fence, be well on their way to the pursuit a perfect career, and in general, have life well understood.  In truth those are quite high if not impossible expectations to hold above any single person.  Did you know that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25?  If we assume this theory to be correct, then somehow society is expecting people to make all encompassing and committing life decisions by an age that God or evolution never intended.  Interesting…

On a personal note, I find that the best way to combat this pressure is through expecations or by redefining the role expectations can play in our lives.  It has been my experience that the best moments are those same moments associated with zero expecations.  The job you never thought you would be offered, but because you knew the right person or walked in at the right time were offered.  The cute guy you never thought would ask you out until that one day you ran into him at a coffee shop because you simply needed your skinny chai and the moment was right.  Or how about finding yourself more motivated and more alive then you ever thought possible simply because you pushed your body to the physical limits and finished that marathon?  Funny the role expecations play.  And how in reverse, when we enter a situation with loads of expecations, the only truth we walk away with is disappointment. 

Life works this same way.  While society may have expecations for us, especially women of this independent, empowering generation, we are under no obligation to fulfill those expecations.  Live life to its fullest.  Adventursize.  Smell the roses.  Fall in love.  Cry when your heart is broken, and live with no expectations. 

Don Imus. Don Imus set a new bar for racism and stupidity this year with an asinine and offensive comment about the Rutgers players following the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship in April. It was the racial and gender slur heard ‘round the world. And, thank God, no one—including Imus’s bosses—took it lightly.

I’m a huge college women’s basketball fan. In 1993 Sheryl Swoopes led Texas Tech (my alma mater) to its first and only national championship by scoring a record 47 points in the final game. 47 points. Who does that? Seriously, male, female, black, white? Who scores 47 points in a college championship game in the NCAA Division I? Feats like that transcend demographic qualifiers and stereotypes. Still I’m guessing there were folks out there who said, “Yeah, but it was the women’s tournament. I’d like to see her do that in the men’s game.” Proving you just can’t win with some people. After all, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs more than 35 years ago to silence some of those sexist voices, but they find their way out into the world, don’t they?

I cheered for Rutgers through the entire tournament this year. They were my pick to win. I continued rooting for them long after their loss to Tennessee as they stood up to Imus in a face-to-face meeting. The women at Rutgers showed intelligence, sophistication, and dignity. Clear winners. I personally would have called him an old, white curmudgeon, who’d be blown off the court by any one of the Rutgers players. But I haven’t been coached by C. Vivian Stringer, so I don’t have the poise her players possess. I’d just say whatever came into my head at the time.

I’m often asked why we don’t feature more women of color in our pages. The short answer: we can’t afford to do our own photo shoots with our own models, so we have to rely on stock photography. In terms of diversity, the outdoor sports images available to us through stock buys are rare. Other outdoor magazines will tell you it’s because the primary sports participants in hiking, biking, backpacking, and trail running are white men. Their covers mirror their audience. Women’s fitness magazines feature stick-thin white women in bikinis. Their audience is diverse—and they have the money to reflect that in their images—but most of the time they choose not to. I’ll point out in their defense, though, that their cover models don’t really look much like any real women I know anyway.The Outdoor Industry Association encourages diversity and has made it an initiative. Everyone benefits from exercising in the outdoors and connecting with elements in nature. Reflecting minority participation in the media is a critical part of growing that segment. That said, I can’t hang my hat on an excuse that the images I need that support diversity aren’t readily available. I can lead the way, or I can shut up about it. Here at Women’s Adventure, we will always choose to lead.

If you’d like to submit your thoughts and experiences with the topics of racism and sexism in sports, please register here on our blog and make a comment. Let’s hear from you!

You may not know this, but not all of our magazine staff live near WA’s Global Headquarters in Boulder, CO. Several of us work remotely from far-flung locations and have never met each other. Phones are okay, email is nice, but nothing beats a face-to-face chat to really communicate and build relationships.

So, we had our first ever “annual planning session/staff retreat” together in Boulder last month. Everyone rearranged schedules, found child-care or pup care, and came by planes, trains, and automobiles to rendezvous at the foot of the Flatirons in Colorado. Our founder, Michelle, and our office manager, Lynne, swarmed like ants to get ready for our arrival. Armed with the many excellent suggestions sent in by you, dear readers, we plotted out the new year for Women’s Adventure. Of course, we were aided by lots of chocolate, good food, music floating across the meadow from nearby Chautauqua, hikes up to the Flatirons, and gorgeous weather.

After all the serious business was finished, the last item on the agenda was our wish lists. Without any limitations, we told what our wildest dreams were for ourselves in relation to Women’s Adventure. There were all the usual wishes for bigger budgets and more help, but what came through loud and clear was the degree of dedication every woman felt for our publication. We believe Women’s Adventure is unique and worthy of that dedication, beyond long hours and small budgets.

I left our retreat enriched by the strength of women when they work toward a common goal, by their strength in being able to communicate and reach understanding, by their wit, humor and practicality. I think you will be just as enriched by the upcoming year of Women’s Adventure.