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You just can't deny it - women and men are different. Women divers
simply have issues that men just don't have to deal with. The
following are a few of of the more common issues for women divers.
Being a woman does not in any way make a person a better or worse
diver. There are good and bad divers and gender has nothing
whatsoever to do with it. Women are different from their male
counterparts anatomically, physiologically
and psychologically. These differences result in special concerns
that the woman
diver needs to consider. A better understanding of these issues
will enable them to
have a more fun and pleasant underwater experience.
Menstruation
Every
woman diver eventually finds herself with the decision of whether to
dive
during her menstrual period or not. Many women choose to dive
during their periods rather than
miss an exciting underwater experience, and there's no medical
reason not to. Considerations
include the use of tampons or sanitary napkins or both, privacy and
bathroom availability at the
dive site or on the boat. Some people wonder whether sharks could
be attracted to a
menstruating diver. There's no evidence the small amount of blood
that may seep into the
water was ever responsible for a shark attack. So don't worry about
being eaten for lunch
by sharks. Migraines can be a problem for those predisposed to them
during their period. If a
migraine is present or appears to be coming on, the best approach
would be to sit the dive out.
Pregnancy
A woman should not dive while pregnant. Too little is
known about the effects
of pressure on fetal development. Should a problem occur in the
pregnancy after diving - even
if diving had not caused it - it would have the potential to raise a
burden of doubt and guilt that
could become a significant problem. The easiest course is simply
not to dive. Should
pregnancy be discovered after dives have been completed, the
incidence of complications
is still no higher than average. If concerned a woman may wish to
talk with her obstetrician
for reassurance.
Breast implants
Several years
ago, there was a concern about the potential for gas uptake in
breast implants. Researchers at Duke University looked at this in a
study and found that while some implants could absorb gas, the
exposures required were well outside anything a recreational diver
would encounter. There is a large population of active woman divers
with implants presently
diving with no reported cases of any problems related to breast
implants.
Decompression Illness
It has been
suggested that women may face a higher risk due to the increased
percentage of body fat, fluid retention during menstruation and
blood sugar changes due to oral contraceptives. A number of
studies have looked at these factors and found no increase in risk.
Psychological
As already
mentioned, men on average seem to take more risks than women. Apart
from this observation, which may account for the disproportionate
number of men who engage in technical (as opposed to recreational)
diving, there seem to be no important psychological differences
between men and women that would affect scuba diving.
Psychological
Though women now make up a significant portion of the diving
community and are increasing their numbers, male divers still
constitute the majority. The odds are your diving buddy will be
male. No doubt about it the male personality is different and his
decision process may be different from yours, to say the least. It
becomes important then to adhere to your dive plan and objectives.
Make these known to your male partner beforehand. If there is a
dive that you do not wish to do or something else you want to do
during a dive, it is up to you to communicate this. Diving is too
much fun for you to miss something or to be placed in an
uncomfortable position because your dive buddy is a tad too
assertive.
Breast Feeding From the
standpoint of the child, the mother's breast milk is not unduly
affected. The nitrogen absorbed into the body tissues is an inert
gas and plays no role in body metabolism. Insignificant amounts of
this nitrogen would be present in the mother's breast milk; there
is, however, no risk of the infant accumulating this nitrogen. From
the mother's standpoint, there is no reason for a woman who is
breast-feeding her child to avoid diving, provided there is no
infection or inflammation
PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome)
PMS is an ill-defined
group of symptoms that are associated with the hormonal changes that
occur in the week or so prior to menses. When severe, the
personality and anti-social behavior associated with PMS could be a
definite problem in diver interaction on a dive-boat and with a
buddy. If the PMS is severe, there seems to be an association with
underlying psychiatric disorders. It also worsens as the diver ages,
associated with the widening range of estrogen swings. Hormonal
replacement works well with PMS. SSRI's have been found
beneficial.
Should Women Expect
Special Treatment When Scuba Diving?
Ideally, no. The stereotype of a weak, mechanically disinterested,
and/or uncoordinated female
is out of date and harmful to both sexes. Any woman who expects
manual chores will be done
for her (carrying her tank, attaching the regulator, etc.)
because she is a woman, loses the
opportunity to learn important skills and remain self-sufficient.
Any man who abridges a
woman's chance for self-sufficiency by insisting on doing things for
her not only demeans her
but also perpetuates an outdated stereotype. Also, if the woman is
his dive buddy, he may
weaken skills she may one day need to help him. Scuba diving
is a level playing field; it is
no place for machismo behavior or sexism of any sort. Equality
certainly reigns at the
professional level. Hundreds of women instructors teach open water
and advanced courses
to men and women. Women run dive shops, operate dive boats and lead
diving expeditions.
Resorts that carry tanks, attach BC's or perform other dive-related
chores for its customers
do so for men and women alike. Obviously, scuba diving is no longer
"a man's world" as it
was perhaps a generation ago. Today, it should be as acceptable for
a man to ask a woman
for help with equipment or some other problem, as vice versa. When
diving, women and
men should want and expect to be treated as equals.
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