The single greatest number of
complaints I received came from women who said the industry did not off er the correct, comfortable fi t, or type of gear they desired. Women often noted that they felt like manufacturers saw them as an afterthought. (We used to call it the SAP Principal in the 1990s. Take a piece of men’s equipment, make it “Small And Pink” and you have the SAP Principal in action.) Recently NATO commissioned
an extensive study comparing the body proportions of men and women from North America, The Netherlands, and Italy for the purpose of designing safety apparel for military personnel. The results of their work demonstrated a strong separation between men and women, and determined that scaled- down equipment did not adequately meet the needs of women. Rather, it actually created safety issues that could jeopardize military operations. Just looking at hip size alone, they realized that the design of fl ight, cold water immersion, and anti-g suits needed to be specifi cally redesigned to fi t women. Women have a lower center of
gravity. They have shorter torsos, longer legs, shorter lower legs, smaller waists and wider hips. Women’s feet are diff erent. They have lower volume heels, lower anklebones, and higher arches. Men have longer torsos and a lot of weight in their chests. If you fi nd a man and woman of equal height and place them side by side, it is likely that her legs will be longer than his - and his torso will be longer than hers. Or, if you fi nd a man who is a little taller than a woman, you will likely fi nd that their legs will be of equal length. Women’s shoulders are generally
narrower and slope downward from the neck. Shoulder straps need to be shorter for women, contoured and narrower since their waistline is higher than a man’s. Their necks are smaller too, and obviously, they have breasts that need to be accommodated into a design. A woman will rarely be happy wearing men’s gear in “girly” colors. Fortunately, the availability
and selection of dive gear made expressly for women is on the rise. Dive shops that cater to women with gear made expressly for them, will
The Deep: A classic dive
fl ick released in
1977, and as well known for its
high production
value for a movie shot underwater, as for female
lead Jacqueline
Bisset in her wet T-shirt
be rewarded with customer loyalty. Those that don’t will simply not get their business.
At The Dive Site Both men and women related stories of how women are pre-judged to be diving novices regardless of their certifi cation or skill level. Recently, I was teaching a photo intern when his dive buddy came up to say hello. After the greeting, he turned to me and asked if I was diving or just hanging around. Before I could reply, he invited me to join him for an easy dive in Ginnie’s Cavern –where he would “take good care of me.” I let it go. My student’s face refl ected acute embarrassment. A male reader shared a similar
story, which I’ve often seen played out in North Florida. He said, “I was gearing up, along with about 15 other divers, among them a single female, and watched the person in charge bypass every single male diver and walk straight to the woman in the group to ask for her credentials and experience. Aside from coddling (enquiring whether she needed help to carry her scooter down to the water) he asked if she
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