OK, the title of this post is a little misleading. We just wanted to see how it would affect our analytics. But this is a post about sex — the female sex — and the issue of all-women’s classes and symposia. Ladies of the Lake, the spirited midwestern all-women’s symposium, begins shortly.    Over the years, Sharon and Hannah have taught a number of classes that are specifically billed as women-only. We’ve written about this before in greater depth, but in our experience, women-only classes offer opportunities to address: woman-specific paddling issues, such as having less upper-body strength and more upper-body bulk than most male paddlers (not to mention how to pee while on the water); woman-specific insecurities, such as dealing with a male paddling partner who is faster/stronger/bossier or has a different set of expectations for a day on the water;  woman-specific strengths, including our ability to encourage one another while we overcome our fears and learn new skills.    Some symposia have a women’s track or some women-only classes. But the upcoming Ladies of the Lake (now in its seventh year), sponsored by Downwind Sports, is a women-only symposium.    Just because this is a women’s symposium doesn’t mean it isn’t every bit as exciting and challenging as a mixed-gender symposium. We work on strokes, rolling, braces, navigation and incident-management, and if the surf’s up, we go out and catch the waves. And just because it’s a women’s symposium doesn’t mean we think we can only have this kind of fun with women. In fact, many of us instructors love paddling with men, learning from men, teaching men and even competing with men. We’re sure the same is true of many of our students.   But there is something very powerful about gender camaraderie, especially for a gender that has historically been discouraged from pursuing physically challenging activities. And if registration numbers for this year’s Ladies of the Lake symposium are any indication, the appeal of women-specific kayak classes is still...

Ladies of the Lake is a unique symposium. Put on by Downwind Sports and sponsored by Impex and Werner Paddles, this all-female kayaking event features one day of local paddle tours, two days of instruction, a featured guest instructor, and a themed costume party complete with a raffle of gear generously donated by its host and sponsors. Grand Rapids-based instructor Lori Stegmier teaching a class on edging and bracing. Numerous other symposiums offer women’s classes, but this is the only one we know of that is women-only. (It does, however, offer a “Man Camp” for partners and spouses, taught this year by Kelly Blades and Danny Mongno.)There is something special about women-only classes. They tend to attract women who learn best in a supportive, all-female environment. Some are refugees from bad paddling relationships with men who have too much machismo. Some are looking for ways to improve their paddling that take into consideration female anatomy. Some are intimidated by men in mixed-gender classes. Some simply appreciate the camaraderie of gender-specific classes.A women-only symposium offers a weekend of immersion in these benefits. Participants get to watch each other and help each other improve over time. They aren’t embarrassed about how they look as they attempt to scramble back into their boats. They don’t apologize for their lack of upper-body strength. They eagerly adopt strategies that emphasize technique over muscles. In a rescue class, we teach the rescuer to wrap her body over the deck of boat. Strong men might get away with stabilizing the boat using only their arm strength, but that doesn’t tend to work for many women. The midwest is fortunate to have a remarkable group of female instructors who are dedicated to making the sport accessible to women of all ages and abilities. That’s the spirit of Ladies of the Lake. Chicago-based instructor Wendy Madgwick stands up for female kayakers...

Most classes begin with individual boat fit so that students feel comfortable in their kayaks and can control them well. Saturday’s “women on the water” class was, in many ways, typical of other all-female classes I’ve taken and taught. The participants ranged from timid to almost fearless, from novice to intermediate, from goal-oriented to open-to-anything. But what they all had in common was this: They wanted to learn in a supportive environment where nobody would judge them, and that’s what an all-women’s class meant to them.It’s funny, when you think about. Are women any less judgmental than men? Not necessarily. But they often are more supportive of one another, particularly when they are overcoming their fears and gaining new skills. In a mixed gender class, you’re less likely to see a spontaneous round of applause after someone screws up her confidence and finally attempts a scoop rescue on a fellow paddler. You’re more likely to see a someone hanging back and watching instead of trying new skills. But in a women-only class, there’s a lot of encouragement and positive reinforcement. Students root for each other and celebrate each other’s accomplishments. It’s a case of gender camaraderie at its best.Our Saturday class began with two students refusing to do a “wet exit.” One saw no need; the other was afraid. Sizing up the conditions (warm water and air, calm seas, no spray skirts), I hastily devised the “modified wet exit,” in which I would hold the student’s hands while she flipped her boat and came out. Both students agreed to do this and executed it easily, proving to themselves and to me that they would come out of their boats if they accidentally capsized.By contrast, one student came to class with the wet exit high on her list of desired skills. She had never done one and was a little afraid she wouldn’t be able to. After she pulled one off, she was ecstatic, and kept doing it over and over just to reinforce the skill. Her pride was infectious; the excitement of the whole class ratcheted up several notches.The rest of the class entailed a mix of teaching and playing, with the games reinforcing the skills. For example, after teaching turning strokes and draw strokes, we played kayak basketball, in which students attempted to toss tennis balls into each other’s cockpits. When they missed their targets, they had to retrieve the balls from the water by using the strokes they had learned. The beauty of doing this through games is that the stroke practice happens naturally. The students laugh and focus on what they’re trying to accomplish. The paddle skills are no longer an end, but a means to...