On the water with Kymmy: Let Her Fish
Hold onto your hats, because this one might be considered controversial...
A woman posts a photo holding an impressive fish while wearing a bikini.
The photo gets plenty of attention.
And eventually, someone says it.
"She wouldn't get half those likes if she put some clothes on."
And every time I see it, I find myself wondering...
Why are we blaming her for the Like button somebody else pressed?
Let’s not pretend the difference in engagement doesn’t exist.
It does.
Put two equally impressive fish on social media and, all else being equal, the photo featuring more skin will often attract more attention.
We could debate algorithms, audience demographics, attraction and human behaviour until the cows come home.
None of that particularly interests me.
What interests me is when we take that difference in engagement and somehow make it a reflection of the woman.
Why does the fact that other people chose to click Like suddenly give us permission to question her ability, her motives or her self-respect?
She didn’t click Like 1,000 times.
They did.
And yet somehow, she’s often the one judged for it.
What does clothing have to do with ability?
I’ve seen the comparison countless times.
A woman wearing waders or fishing clothes catches an incredible fish and gets relatively little attention.
Another woman catches an equally impressive fish wearing a bikini and receives hundreds, sometimes thousands, of likes.
And then comes the comparison.
“This woman deserves the attention.”
“THIS is what a real female angler looks like.”
“At least she has some self-respect.”
But why does celebrating the first woman require us to criticise the second?
The woman in the bikini didn’t take those likes away from the woman in the waders!!
They’re two women who went fishing.
Celebrate them both.
Because whether she's wearing a bikini, waders, boardshorts or a fishing shirt tells me absolutely nothing about how well she can read water, work a lure, tie a knot, fight a fish or handle a boat.
Her clothing isn't a fishing credential.
Neither is anybody else's.
Sometimes it’s just bloody hot
I live and fish in Far North Queensland.
Some days it’s hot enough that clothes feel like a design flaw. 😂
People spend their days swimming, boating, fishing and exploring in swimwear because it makes perfect sense for the environment they’re in.
If a woman spends the day fishing in a bikini and catches an incredible fish, there’s nothing particularly remarkable about her still wearing that bikini when someone grabs the camera.
Sometimes a bikini isn’t a marketing strategy.
It’s just bloody hot.
And sometimes she simply likes wearing a bikini
There doesn’t always need to be a practical explanation either.
Maybe she simply likes wearing a bikini.
Maybe she feels good in her body.
Maybe it took her years to feel that way.
Maybe she doesn’t have the body somebody else thinks she should have to wear one.
And maybe she simply doesn’t care.
None of those things tell me whether she can fish.
A woman shouldn't have to cover herself before we're prepared to take her seriously.
Nor should she have to explain why she's comfortable showing her body.
Sometimes confidence simply looks different on different people.
Her confidence isn’t responsible for yours
Not every woman has the confidence to stand in front of a camera wearing a bikini and holding a fish.
Hell, some women don’t have the confidence to share a photo of themselves at all.
And that’s okay.
What isn’t okay is turning our own discomfort with ourselves into judgement of a woman who doesn’t share it.
If another woman feels completely comfortable in her body, her confidence hasn’t taken anything away from yours.
Her bikini didn’t make you less worthy.
Her photograph didn’t make your catch less impressive.
And the attention her post received didn’t steal anything that belonged to you.
If seeing another woman’s confidence makes us feel worse about ourselves, perhaps the question shouldn’t be:
“Why does she need to show so much skin?”
Perhaps it should be:
“Why does her confidence make me uncomfortable?”
Because that’s something only we can work on.
There is room in fishing for the woman who proudly posts the bikini photo.
There is room for the woman covered from head to toe.
There is room for the woman who never posts a photograph of herself at all.
One woman’s confidence doesn’t require another woman’s approval.
Stop putting one woman down to lift another one up!
Above: Tayla and Grace clearly demonstrating their CHOICE of attire doesn’t determine their fishing capabilities. Thank you for allowing me to share your pics, ladies!! I’ve loved watching you both grow in your fishing journeys.
This is probably the part that frustrates me most.
Over the past six years, I’ve had countless conversations with women through Lady Anglers Downunder.
Women fish differently.
We dress differently.
We have different personalities.
Different bodies.
Different levels of confidence.
Different reasons for sharing what we do online.
And that's exactly how it should be.
We can celebrate the woman standing proudly in her waders with an incredible fish without adding:
“THIS is what a real female angler looks like.”
Because the moment we do that, we haven't simply celebrated one woman.
We've used her to diminish another.
We can celebrate the woman in waders without criticising the woman in a bikini.
We can admire someone's modesty without demanding it from everyone else.
We can admire someone's confidence without requiring another woman to display hers in exactly the same way.
One woman's choices don't diminish another woman's achievements.
Yes, some people deliberately use sexuality online
Of course they do.
Women do.
Men do.
“Sex sells” isn't exactly a revolutionary discovery.
There will always be people who deliberately use their appearance to generate attention or engagement online.
And you know what?
That's their choice too.
We don't have to follow them.
We don't have to engage with their content.
We don't even have to like it.
What we don't need to do is use those examples to make assumptions about every woman who happens to be holding a fish while wearing a bikini.
A photograph tells us what she was wearing.
It doesn't necessarily tell us why she posted it.
And it certainly doesn't tell us whether she deserves to be respected as an angler.
We don't have to be the same
This is where I think we sometimes lose sight of what we're actually trying to achieve.
Women are becoming increasingly visible across recreational fishing.
They're entering competitions.
They're launching boats.
They're fishing offshore.
They're fly fishing.
They're spearfishing.
They're teaching their children.
They're sharing knowledge.
They're working within the fishing industry.
They're building communities.
They're simply going fishing.
And every one of those women should be able to find her own place in this pastime without another woman deciding whether she's doing womanhood correctly while she's there.
We don't have to dress alike.
We don't have to fish alike.
We don't have to post alike.
We don't have to have the same relationship with our bodies.
And we certainly don't have to understand every choice another woman makes before we're capable of respecting her.
Kymmy - Assumption: Fishing in a bikini for attention. FACT: We were expecting another round of torrential rain at any minute.
Just let her fish
An impressive fish is an impressive fish.
The woman wearing waders deserves to have her catch celebrated.
So does the woman wearing boardshorts.
So does the woman covered from head to toe.
So does the woman wearing a bikini.
And so does the woman who caught the fish, enjoyed the moment and never posted the bloody thing on social media at all.
We don't need to put one woman down to lift another one up.
Her confidence doesn't diminish yours.
Her clothing doesn't determine her ability.
And somebody else's reaction to her photograph doesn't determine her worth.
There are already enough things that can make women question whether they belong in recreational fishing.
We don't need to become another one.
You don't have to dress like her.
You don't have to post like her.
You don't even have to understand her choices.
Just let her fish.