The Trail Doesn’t Judge - Inclusion In The Hiking World

🌱Nature is for all of us 🌿 - Inclusion in the hiking world

While it's true that the trail certainly doesn't judge and nor do trees or mountains - people certainly do.
Although things start to slowly change, hiking is largely presented as a cis, hetero, white, able-bodied space via media/advertisements.

Nature is a place of enjoyment and recreation for many, but not for all.
There are systemic, racial, ableist, sexist, and socioeconomic barriers that need to be addressed and deconstructed. Have you ever seen those memes making fun of the "over-prepared-hiker" or the one dressing "inappropriately" or the "lazy hiker"? This might seem like just an "innocent" joke but making fun of marginalized groups hurts actual people.

Some might shrug this off - those are just jokes. There are many public places everyone can visit, no memes are floating around in offline reality, right? Well, I tell you something: Just because a place is public, doesn't make it welcoming or accessible for everyone. One can fear being shamed, ridiculed, stared at, or even harassed for anything connected to their appearance or behavior and some will experiences this more often than others.

There doesn't need to be any physical barrier to "gatekeep" certain groups of people away. Social shaming and ridiculing are already enough.

It is physically and/or mentally beneficial to be in nature for most of us. There shouldn't be any stress attached to simply enjoying time outdoors.

Nature is for all of us.