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Thursday, September 12, 2013

ManGames: I am not a man.

Last week, I wrote about an old wound. As I was writing, I got an email advertising Man Games. At first, I admit, I cussed and swore at my computer... And then I read the whole email to find out that Man Games aren't just for men. Women can play too...

I sent my friend (Sara) a text and told her that I wanted to do this, and asked her to come too.
She had seen the advertisements for it, thought they were just for men, and felt disappointed, because it looked like fun. So, we signed up and spent Saturday "competing" in Man Games.

Here is what I learned from Man Games.
I am not a man.

I know this is not news to anyone... but really... I am not a man. We walked up to the pigs we were supposed to "rastle", and I thought, "Those are big, but I'm tough, I can do this."

Very large pigs, I can handle. Squealing pigs make me cry.

Then someone else went into the ring, and the pig started squealing, and I just wanted to cry. There was no way I was going to be able to wrestle a pig to the ground when it cried like that. It sounded scared, and I wanted to call the whole thing off. Sara was going through something similar. We might not be traditional women, but we are perfectly fine never wrestling a pig again.

I took her picture, but I was feeling the same thing.

Next we were off the Mounted Spear Throw.
I'm pretty comfortable with horses... I've never thrown a spear from on top of one, but it seemed easy enough. I got a bullseye. 10 out of 10! I was the only person in my group of 40 to do so. I don't know how I would do on a second try, but it's okay... You only get one try in ManGames.


Before the bullseye...
Next, we went to the Obstacle Course/Man Race/Crossfit Challenge.
There were a whole bunch of new things to try:
Running. I've done it before, but only when I have to.

Mud puddles up to my thighs.


Crawling under barbed wire. REAL barbed wire.
Caber Toss.
This is my manly pose. I think I had just done the caber toss, but I can't say for sure...
Axe Throw.
Log Toss.

Flipping a big tire. This was the most challenging one for me. When I lifted, it stayed, and I fell over. Eventually, I completed the task though.
Football throw and punt. How is it that I have never thrown a fullsize football before?

There were a few things I've done before, but not in a timed setting:
Running hills. Mostly I've only done this after I have lost my horse. That's only happened twice. Do I get credit for the fact that both times I was in jeans and boots and a big old heavy duster?
Running tires.

Running over and around hay bales. It's a lot more fun when you're trying to get a baby goat to follow after you. Next time maybe ManGames could bring in some baby goats?
Basketball.
Archery.
Soccer.
Burpies.
Jumping Fences.


We finished only to find that the buses that were supposed to take us to the water events, left. Luckily my parents had their car, and they drove me, Sara, and our new friend Jana to Deer Creek. Just in time for the park rangers to shut the whole thing down because it was raining, hailing, and lightening.

I didn't get to try the huge rope swing, and I didn't do the kayaking, paddle-boarding, or swimming.
I didn't sign up to try the Flyboard Frenzy, because I was worried about how much money I was already spending. $25 more wouldn't have been a big deal, but I couldn't convince myself that it was a justifiable expense.

I plan on doing it again next year, and hopefully the weather will be more cooperative, because I want to try everything. I also hope they have more challenges next year. More mud would be good.

And, they said there would be a fishing challenge. I hope it's fly fishing. Real men don't chuck bait.

It's too bad you can't see how much it is raining in this picture. And, it is also unfortunate that I don't have the conversation that had just taken place on video either:
Me: "Real men don't quit just because of a little rain or lightening..."
Sara: "True. I am not a real man. Let's GO!"


It was a blast.
And I think by letting myself do things that look fun, even if they are called ManGames, maybe I'll start to heal that old wound. I learned that I am definitely not a man. I don't want to be. I am also not a traditional woman. I don't want to be. I really like the person that I am: a perfect mix of feminine and masculine.




4 comments:

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  2. I'm not a traditional man. I think that's the beauty of life, you get to be whoever you want to be. Your gender is only a small part of that.

    I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to wrestle the pig if it sounded scared and sad.

    A few days ago I saw a big truck in the pasture right by my house. The truck said "Carter meats" on the side of it, and they were rounding up the cows. I told Robyn I was very disturbed by this. I told her I'm not a vegetarian, but those cows were my friends. They used to moo at me when I walked by. You don't eat friends. I'm pretty sure a traditional man wouldn't have had that concern, but I still miss my friends every time I pass that field. They better get some new cows soon.

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    1. Your comment made me laugh. I think I am a vegetarian in principle (You don't eat friends, and all of the animals are my friends!) but not in practice. (I love a good steak.) It's a source of serious cognitive dissonance for me. If I saw the meat truck gathering cows, it would have been very difficult for me.

      And really, I don't think anyone fits into "traditional man" or "traditional woman", because even the guy that loves hunting and killing things might be really into ballet dance too. (That was a horrible example.)

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