
Part 1:
The day I joined the metal detecting community I was
immediately inundated with friend requests, mostly from heterosexual men.
Having worked in the music industry, this clearly isn't my first rodeo, so I wasn't even remotely shocked. It's a fairly common
occurrence women face online, especially in a male dominated hobby like metal
detecting. Men are intrigued by someone from the opposite sex showing an
interest in their hobby. They are visually driven creatures and many of them focus on looks. Then there are the ones with an incredible sense of entitlement who choose to display their "keyboard balls" (an interesting phenomenon where they hide behind the keyboard and blurt out anything they have on
their minds which, as you can imagine, is often quite inappropriate). I take the jokes in stride, unfriend the ones who are unable to adapt, delete the shady comments and carry on my happy trail. Simple enough right?
Look, I am a complex person, just like everyone else. However, I approach life with a pretty laid back attitude. I have a fun personality, I love rock music, cute clothes, computers and metal detecting and oh...I am... a WOMAN! While you certainly cannot "know" me based on my Facebook posts, blogs and videos, my personality definitely shines through. Sometimes I'm shy, sometimes I'm silly, sometimes I'm bitchy, and yes... sometimes I'm freaking sexy! (Too sexy for this blog in fact!!) I make no apologies for any of it. Digging a little further (pun intended) you'll find that I'm also a very intelligent, well-put together, talented, grown up who is isn't half bad at metal detecting. Thankfully I am surrounded by a multitude of other amazing and equally skilled (some even more so), beautiful female detectorists. And one thing I've come to realize, we spend far too much time having to defend our clothing choices, explain our selfie shots and having to prove our skills and the validity of our detecting finds.
Look, I am a complex person, just like everyone else. However, I approach life with a pretty laid back attitude. I have a fun personality, I love rock music, cute clothes, computers and metal detecting and oh...I am... a WOMAN! While you certainly cannot "know" me based on my Facebook posts, blogs and videos, my personality definitely shines through. Sometimes I'm shy, sometimes I'm silly, sometimes I'm bitchy, and yes... sometimes I'm freaking sexy! (Too sexy for this blog in fact!!) I make no apologies for any of it. Digging a little further (pun intended) you'll find that I'm also a very intelligent, well-put together, talented, grown up who is isn't half bad at metal detecting. Thankfully I am surrounded by a multitude of other amazing and equally skilled (some even more so), beautiful female detectorists. And one thing I've come to realize, we spend far too much time having to defend our clothing choices, explain our selfie shots and having to prove our skills and the validity of our detecting finds.

The important point of all this, as we co-exist with our male detecting friends, whatever the reason behind the likes, the number of friends we have or our perceived "popularity", we should not have to temper our posting, exclude ourselves, or have our cool finds diminished and devalued just because we are women. Posting a selfie does not "entitle" me to be disrespected. There should never be a time where I hear the words "Oh you have to expect that being a women detectorist" as I voice indignation over receiving an unsolicited penis picture. I have met some amazing people on this journey and I should not have to exclude myself because some dudes don't know how to behave. And I refuse to be held responsible for that behavior. I have not invited it and I do not have to own it.

Now, do I like being told I'm pretty? Sure! Who doesn't?!?! Do I like comments about what you'd like to do with your pin pointer or how many inches deep your targets are? Listen, I like a good joke as much as the next person and I'm not that easily offended. But believe me when I say, I am not getting an ego boost from these comments nor do Facebook likes translate to any sort of validation for me. The way I look at it, I'm sharing my finds and personality with like minded people. I embrace my inner rock star because it's FUN, not because I'm trying to be popular (It's FACEBOOK people... gimme a break). I do however wish for Girls Rock Metal Detecting to be successful and for that to happen I must participate in groups and continue to make it fun and engaging. In the meantime, if the only reason I receive likes on my finds is because I'm a girl, then so be it! Because girls really do ROCK and we deserve all the recognition we get! So let's celebrate that and get back to the detecting shall we?
xoxo Siren Kimmie (HDIC Girls Rock Metal Detecting)
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