Mountain guide, instructor, cyber-feminist, soldier, association president, author, mother of two... Marion Poitevin is that kind of pioneering woman, a symbol and role model in her own right. We caught up with her to talk activism, sexism, empouvoirement, the outdoors and sustainable tourism!
Hello Marion! First of all, could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
Marion Poitevin: I'm 38 years old, and the mother of 2 children aged 4 and 1. I wear many hats: I'm a mountain guide, a CRS mountain rescuer, a climbing instructor and also a lecturer. I want to break through the ice ceiling that so many women in the mountains experience. In fact, that's the title and purpose of my book, "Briser le plafond de glace",
How did you become this militant spokesperson for women in the mountains, and more specifically in mountaineering?
M.P: It's a role I decided to take on, even if it hasn't been easy, as there's a real lack of visibility for women in the media!
Having been the first woman to join the high mountain military school in 2008, and first woman rescue worker CRS montagne, I've acquired something of a calling card on this subject. It was important to me to get things moving, to be able to share these professional opportunities with other women, and also to have friends to work with... I've only had a female colleague with me for 2 years now, and there are 30 of us!
"Mountaineering is an expensive, closed and elitist sport"
How do you explain the fact that there are so few women in extreme sports, particularly mountaineering?
M.P: First of all, mountaineering is an expensive sport . This is an obstacle, all the more so for women who earn 30% less than men, for the same job and the same level of education.
It's also a very closed and elitist sport, with a sort of "entre-soi". And it's a sport that suffers from clichés about women: "they don't take risks, they're not tough, they're scared, they always have to pee, they can't read a map, ..."... Clearly, this doesn't encourage women to take the plunge!
When I started climbing myself, I used to wear barriers when I went out to practice. If my mates couldn't get over a wall, I told myself that there was no point in me even trying.
Is the difference in physical strength between men and women an obstacle to mountaineering or climbing?
M.P: Yes, this physical difference isn't completely untrue, but we're talking about sports that were created by men for men!
In fact, I recommend Victoire Tuaillon's podcast "Cro-magnon, ce gentleman", in which she unpacks the ancestral clichés of the mammoth hunter and the woman at the bottom of the cave, which are often used to justify differences in gender roles.
Mountaineering changes the rules because it's a very long and intense sport, you need to meet a number of conditions to succeed, such as knowing how to observe the terrain, having the right equipment, the right companions... so it's really not sheer physical strength that's going to come first.
In climbing, there's that female icon, Lynn Hill, who, in 1993, was the first to free-climb "The Nose" in Yosemite Valley. Once at the summit, she reportedly said: "It goes guys! This proves that women have their place in this sport!
"Symbolically, women occupy an "indoor" role. Outdoors helps them to free themselves from this cliché".
We know it's important to have more representations of women, so-called "role models". How can we get more of them?
M.P: We need to improve the visibility of women in the media. If we take mountaineering, for example, communication is very focused on performance. Women's best performances are less than men's, so nobody talks about them, and that's a shame!
And then, women need to learn to recognize their own achievements, because they still tend to underestimate their own feats.
In your opinion, does the outdoors have a role to play in the empowerment of women?
M.P: Yes, of course! But in French, the word still sounds strange to many of us, which just goes to show that we have a problem with the concept.
Symbolically, women occupy an "indoor" role, at home. So, finally, the outdoor world encourages them to free themselves from these clichés!
It also helps build self-confidence. When I became a young woman, I was quickly made to understand that I wasn't capable. So I turned to researching performance: it was a real source of motivation and helped me do everything I've achieved today.
But there are a lot of barriers to going into the "wild". In the imagination, it's something dirty, uncontrollable, inexplicable, even mysterious, which is a bit scary. Nature has often been denigrated, which has allowed man to exploit it under the guise of having to master this wild thing.
"At the top of the mountain, the diktat of beauty does not exist. Societal pressure on women escapes"
What are the benefits of mountain sports on the body and mind? How have they shaped you?
M.P: I understood quite late why I loved these sports and the mountains.
In retrospect, I realized that the physical strength had been very important. I did my first race at the age of 14-15, I trained a lot and that helped me gain confidence in myself and in my physical strength, especially as a woman where I very quickly understood that men could be predators.
There's a second thing that helped me as a teenager: at the top of the mountain, the dicktat of beauty doesn't exist. You can dress however you like, have halos under your arms, not be shaved... Societal pressures and constraints completely escape.
Today, I have two children, so there's also an ecological aspect at stake. Before, the mountains were my gymnasium, not a natural environment, I was detached from living things, it was my workplace. Today, I'm aware of the importance of protecting this fragile environment and I want to help spread the word.
How do you educate your children to protect the mountain environment, to pass on your passion for these activities?
M.P: I think it's mainly through respect and example. This awareness has enabled me to become an activist, for example by setting up the * association "Lead the climb"*, affiliated to the Fédération française des clubs alpins et de montagne (FFCAM), which works to improve the under-representation of women in mountain activities.
As for passing on my passion, as these are very dangerous sports, which involve a lot of risk, I don't want to force them.
On the other hand, my daughter won't have the choice of skiing until she's at least 18 (laughs)!
"To tame the mountains, you have to help people venture out on their own with a map and a rucksack"
What can be done to encourage people to take up outdoor activities, while at the same time protecting the mountains?
M.P: It's always a dilemma! If there are too many people in the mountains, we lose interest completely. On the other hand, we need to develop curiosity and means of access. I think we need to encourage people to venture out with a map and a rucksack, thanks to people who know the mountains and can guide them. That's why I created the club Lead the Climb to encourage women to take on leadership roles in mountain sports!
Do you think that getting out and about, disconnecting from social networks/phones, can help us keep our mental equilibrium?
M.P : Of course, nature helps us feel better. But I don't think we should be caricatural. Social networking has helped me a lot personally, at a time when I felt very alone as a woman.
I'm cyber-feminist, and I think the magic of networking lies in the fact that we can make something strong and positive depending on the media/people followed. What depresses me is the weather we can have in January. It's called Solastalgie.
"It makes me optimistic to see the extent to which humans can be creative to travel differently, whether by bike or train"
What do you think of sustainable tourism? What needs to change to preserve this mountain?
M.P : It makes me optimistic to see just how creative people can be to travel differently, whether by bike, train... There are lots of things to do, and I have faith in the new generations! We need to strike a balance between tourism and preserving the natural environment around us.
