We’re sorry. We read this post on Facebook by Amanda Monthei of the FlyFish Journal the other day, and it upset us. (Good, honest, important, gutsy writing, by the way). There are many women in this industry who can offer more relevant insights and commentary than we can, for sure. But we will say, as the editors who have covered the business of fly fishing for more than a decade, that companies can invest millions in R&D, bring awesome products to market… there can be peer groups, and women-focused classes and outings, and targeted advertising campaigns for women… and all that is great. But they won’t really matter for beans, so long as there are Neanderthals who go to a fishing show and ask a woman angler in a booth if she actually fishes, if she’s giving out kisses, or if she will sit on their lap. Our two cents. If you haven’t already, please read the story (or read it again).
Congratulations, on the other hand, to American Angler, and writer Sarah Grigg, and photographer Arnica Spring, for the groundbreaking and well-produced, well-shot, well-written package on women anglers due out in the print and digital editions due in March/April.
2 Comments
We thought this was a great article that Amanda wrote. And most importantly educational. Unfortunately there will always be a few “Neanderthals”. It would be great if there weren’t, but that issue is not specific to the fly fishing world. We do not tolerate any sort of harassment at The Fly Fishing Shows and will address any situation brought to our attention. One of the benefits of attending a show is that personal contact to find a guide/lodge/shop/manufacturer or whatever it may be, that treats you the best. In my lifetime in the fly fishing industry I have had far more complaints from male anglers being treated like a neophyte by an employee somewhere that thinks he is gods gift to fish. Fish don’t have egos, and we should never judge a customers knowledge or skill level based on sex, race, age, or religion. Those of us in the industry need to ask questions and help find a better solution for what that person is looking for rather than telling them what they need. Bringing this to lite can only help those that want to do better improve how they approach a situation. Just as the AT staff, we apologize for those that make the rest of us look bad.
Ben Furimsky
President/CEO
The Fly Fishing Show
Hi Ben (and Angling Trade team),
The Flyfish Journal just posted my follow-up to my previous blog post on their site. You can find it here: https://www.theflyfishjournal.com/exclusive/daughters-flyfishing-postscript-2/
I think the most important thing to reiterate, as I do in the follow up, is how the bad interactions I had were incredibly few and far between based on the amount of people I interacted with over those two weekends. Also wanted to emphasize how much I appreciated the women’s showcase and programming, as well as the event in general. I touch on this in the piece, which we’ll be sharing soon on the TFFJ channels.
I appreciate your support and understanding through all of this, and above all, thank you for reading, sharing, and taking these concerns to heart.
Best,
Amanda