Jaws or Abyss?
ENWhen I talk to non-divers about diving, two questions always come up. Girls: "Aren't you afraid of sharks?" Boys: "Are you going deep?" Syndrome Jaws in these ladies, fantasy Abyss for the gentlemen!
Two films, two fantasies, two fears of the unknown?
I am not a shrink. But I do have my two-bit sexist theory about how men and women perceive diving.
Disclaimer : careful, eh! Nothing serious about this, everything that follows is to be taken with irony and to the n-th degree!!! 😉
So the girls always ask me, "Aren't you afraid of sharks?" On the women's side, it seems that the fear of the big, toothy beast dominates. An underwater variant of the fear of the big bad wolf?
The boys always ask me, "Are you going deep?" On the male side, it looks more like performance anxiety. An underwater transposition of the "who pees the farthest" contest?
😂
In short, scuba diving inspires fears and fantasies, which are well symbolized by these two films: Jaws (Les Dents de la mer, in French) from Steven Spielberg for fear of sharks and Abyss from James Cameron for the intoxication of the depths.
Dedramatize and demythify ...
Many people do not know that clownfish attacks (without consequence) and triggerfish (sometimes painful) are more frequent than those sharks. And that you don't even need to feel the exhilaration of the depths to come across harmless gray sharks, white tip or black tip, Whale sharks, Wobbegongs or zebra sharks ...
→ See all my articles with sharks in (with or without teeth)
Well, these questions, from non-divers, I can still understand ... They do not know the underwater world.
But where it gets funny is that these differences between male and female reactions are also observed among male and female divers on the same boat...
Would they have watched too much The Big Blue ?
Some gentlemen, when they come back on board, after a dive, absolutely need to know how deep the others have come down. Ordis dive on the wrist, they go there their virile comparisons, measuring the meters as they had to measure the centimeters in the playground.
Ri-di-cu-les! 😆
Some have watched too much The Big Blue by Luc Besson, too, no doubt ...
The game of comparisons becomes very funny when we move on to the "contest" of those who consume the least air. Here, girls are often the big winners!
There's nothing we can do about it, it's a question of size and morphology. Women are generally more air-efficient than men. Real champions.
Everyone leaves with around 200 bars in their bottle. But when monsieur comes back up with 50 bars or less, madame often still has 80 or even 100 bars in stock! 👌
The macho doesn't stay underwater for long
As a result, I laugh in advance when I see certain couples disembarking on a boat... I'm talking about those who haven't had much diving experience yet, with one guy acting macho and know-it-all in front of his partner and the rest of the group.
😉
She will listen carefully to the briefing and follow the advice of the guide. She will dare to ask questions and will make sure not to touch anything underwater (and she has seen JawsWell, she knows that the beasts that populate the seabed are full of teeth and sharp pointy things).
In general, she will have a long, pleasant dive. She will see lots of cool stuff, because she will constantly keep an eye on the guide who is there to show her (provided that the guide does his job well, but that's another debate). She will come back delighted. With a bit of luck, she will even have seen a shark. And won't be afraid of it anymore.
👌
Her companion, on the other hand, doesn't often need anyone's advice. At most, he'll deign to ask questions about depth. Explaining that he can go well beyond the maximum 25 or 30 meters announced at the briefing. That's how it is: some males just don't see the point of doing so-called "recreational" or "leisure" diving, without decompression. And they find it even harder to understand that in certain exotic locations, where the water is warm and full of fish, there isn't always a rescue unit or decompression chamber nearby...
As a result, this kind of guy will empty his air tank at breakneck speed, trying too hard to descend, too hard to swim. You can spot him quickly underwater: he's the one waving his arms and legs like crazy, stirring up the bottom, scaring the fish away...
Moreover, he is also the kind of person who gets offended if he has to get back on the boat before the others, with one of the guides, simply because he has sucked all his air.
Do you go deep? Aren't you afraid of sharks?
Yes, it's all very caricatural, I agree... But so are certain behaviors (whether diving, driving a car or in everyday life).
Fortunately, I also met a lot of couples who were diving in good harmony, forming admirable pairs underwater!
Still. Whenever I get into a conversation about my diving with someone who knows nothing about it, I know in advance the question I'm going to be asked, depending on whether the person I'm talking to is a man or a woman: "And do you go deep?" or "Aren't you afraid of sharks?".
In short, it's impossible to escape the clichés that haunt the female and male imagination when it comes to diving. It is Jaws or Abyss !
😜 😂
Are men really that predictable? 🙂
Ha mince, I know plenty of guys who refer to Jaws instead.... is that normal, doctor?
That said, this film traumatized an entire generation who are now afraid to put the regulator in their mouths (the best way to stop being afraid is to put it in your mouth at least once to see what really happens underwater!) Spielberg should publicly apologize for making this film!
@ Ceucidit:
Fortunately not! (See Marie-Net's comment following yours...) It would be sad, by the way, if all guys necessarily had the same reactions 😉
My theory is really two-bit, totally caricatured, inspired by a sample that's certainly not representative. The last male specimen with whom I had this kind of discussion warned me: “What am I representative of?.
Perhaps a woman's fantasy, basically, to want to believe that men can not be unpredictable ...
😆
@ Marie-Net:
Yes, Jaws remains THE reference film, men and women alike. In fact, I'm the one who arbitrarily and in bad faith establishes this cinematographic divide, in relation to the two types of response I've often heard (depth / danger of wildlife)... (But if a shrink comes along, I'd love a substantiated opinion).
😉
To repair the trauma, Spielberg should do better: a new shark movie. But in the opposite direction to the first, featuring the real killer of the seas, the real monster, the human being (I love this movie, though!!!).
😀
Live from La Rochelle, no sharks in sight ... Except at the aquarium!!! I recommend it to all those who never dive, but still want to see some critters ...
lol
A well-executed caricature, still very true, often 😉
@ Helen: I'm not familiar with the La Rochelle. Only those Saint Malo and San Sebastian... perfect for diving without getting wet!
😉
@ Siratus: Eh eh! Behind the caricatures, there is still a little background of truth ... Or at least little things seen.
🙄
Well, I'm diving....in my sink, and there's nothing but greasy little bubbles! and a few fish bones...
@ Lydie: Your comment made me burst out laughing all by myself in front of my screen... But you already know that!
😆 😆 😆
Mr. Speciman,
I'm delighted to see that you've come to see for yourself the real or supposed excessiveness of this post, after our conversation over a recyclable cup...
😆
So, reassured?
🙄
In the common sense, fantasy is a mental fixation or unreasoned belief that can, in some cases, lead to excessive bills 😉
A little cartoonish, but... so true 😡
Nb: By the way, congratulations on the photo of the zebra (leopard) shark with the moray ray taken at Koh Lanta. I've never been able to get a good one, not because of the placid beast, but because of the water, which is always very crowded 🙁
😀
As for leopard sharks, you can see them quite easily around Koh Phi Phi and Koh Lanta. As they generally remain fairly quiet on the seabed, they're easy to approach and photograph. The problem, however, is that the water is often quite crowded.
That day it was fine, which enabled me to take a fairly good series of photos. I also have a video of several zebra sharks swimming, taken on another trip. But alas, the “foggy” video makes things look a bit ghostly on my little sequence. I'll have to put it online one of these days...
🙄
But no, you're not a “specimen”, you're a representative of half of humanity!!!!!
😀
Well, come on, I've got to get back out into the freezing rain of real life to take some pictures for the paper. There are times when I'd rather be “no-life”, I swear...
😉
I wasn't particularly worried, although being reduced to a «specimen» can leave you wondering... 😥
But this caricature is as good as another, the «No life way of life» for example... 😉
Don't swear Thérèse! 😀
Good luck…
Ayé, this job is over! I will finally be able to return to the wonderful virtual world of no-life !!!
😉
Very funny post 😀
I don't know much about diving (only a long baptism near the island of Groix) but I've been coming back to your site for 2/3 weeks because it's really well done... hats off!
The interface and technique are both professional and harmonious. Your writing is simple, clear and full of life. And, last but not least, the content of your posts is very enriching.
I'll stop here (to keep your ankles human-sized 😛 ) but I really want to give you my compliments!
Good continuation !
Thank you IndexOne !!!
Mission accomplished: my ankles exploded !!!
😆
I'm kidding, but what you're saying here touches me sincerely.
On the web, I attach a great deal of importance to ergonomics and intuitive navigation. Nothing annoys me more than getting “lost” on a site or blog.
So I spent a lot of time fine-tuning mine to make it as enjoyable as possible. And if you find the background interesting... I'm delighted! Thank you very much for your feedback. I'll try to keep it up.
🙂
Excellent. I just spent 5 minutes with a smile on my face. You're very close to the truth. For my part, I'm one of the green water scrap dealers. It's true that we're often on the lookout for deep, inaccessible wrecks so that we can bring them back in front of our friends! 8)
Having said that, I also love shallow critters and try to introduce my tattooed scrap metal buddies to these discoveries. If you take a stroll through my pages, you'll notice that I note depths... all depths, even 15m 😉
This page illustrates, I think, rather well my intention:
http://www.regardelamer.com/article-inachus-grand-timide-aux-petits-yeux-rouges-80395279.html
Good future dives to you.
@Pascal: Hey, hey! Glad I made you smile. And thanks for the link, very nice!
🙂