Father demanded a 'real' guide replace the woman leading his Arctic tour. Her ultimatum left his son apologizing on repeat

Despite a large number of women guiding and leading tourists across the globe, the gender-based stigma that men are stronger than women continues to undermine their abilities. In a Reddit post, a woman named Kat shared an episode of a hike where she was leading a group of tourists. Among the group was an entitled man who demeaned her abilities as a tour guide and a licensed shooter. He refused to go on the tour until he had a "real" guide and demanded a refund. Kat held her ground and asked him to do whatever he wanted, not predicting how it would escalate. The story has received 14,000 upvotes online. 

A sexist first impression

At the time of the incident, posted on March 10, 2019, Kat was working as a freelance hiking and snowmobile guide on the island of Svalbard, nestled in the heart of the Norwegian Arctic. Although she had encountered various people during her trips, this time, an old man left her perplexed. This man was from Saudi Arabia and had traveled with his 40-something son. Apart from the duo, the group also had an Italian couple. From the very start, when Kat sat in the driver’s seat, the old man, whom she referred to as ED, doubted her abilities to guide them. In fact, he even questioned Kat if she would be able to use her gun because his long-standing beliefs told him that a woman couldn’t possibly shoot a gun.

She had the final say

"You are a woman! Woman can't shoot guns!" the father said, to which the son added, "It's not safe!" Before the guide could digest this insanity, he again expressed shock when she told him she was their guide on the snowmobile tour. “But you're female. Guides can't be female,” ED exclaimed. "Excuse me?" the guide retaliated, "Guys if you don't want me as your guide, that's fine with me. Go back into HQ, take the suit off and tell our receptionist to call you a taxi. If you don't feel safe, that's up to you, but I am the guide for this trip today, and if you want to head out, you'll have to deal with me." The father even tried to get his money back, but the female guide insisted that he had signed on for the trip and she would not be making any special arrangements.

After the woman insisted that 50% of the guides in Svalbard were female, the man refused to go on the trip and stormed back into the hotel. Later, when the trip concluded, Ed's son, who had remained in the group, surrendered his ego and complimented Kat for being a "good girl guide." He even apologized for his earlier behavior.

Workplace bias

While ED was surprised to see Kat as their guide, 80% of tourist guides worldwide are female, according to the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations. But, perhaps, just like the woman in the Reddit post, most don't get the respect and love they deserve.

For instance, a survey of over 1,000 women by The Muse found that nearly half (42%) of women have experienced "gender-biased or inappropriate questions" during a job interview. Moreover, 38% of female respondents said they contemplated applying to a job due to perceived gender bias. A similar share of respondents (41%) confessed to encountering discrimination during a job interview because of their gender.

 'You handled it well'

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/redflaco086 commented, “The father was a stereotype since he thought girls couldn't be guides and not use guns. The son was corrupted by his dad. I am used to having women as guides, as it is not rare where I live." Similarly, u/d1123spm said, “I think you handled that really well, and at the end the son apologized, and he must have realized there is a big difference in cultures after meeting you.”

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