Table of Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

'I want to go too!' The story behind this book

'Finally we were on our way!' Women become Antarctic expeditioners

'I had this dream...' Why women go to Antarctica

'I just wanted to do my job well!' Women at work in Antarctica

'Everything you do is noticed there!' The impact of women's minority status

'If you pat one, pat them all!' Relationships in Antarctica

'Tell them I survived!' Overcoming the outer and inner storms

'It just blew my mind away!' The Antarctic environment

'There's no room for heroes there!' Women assess their experiences

Appendix

Women participating in this study and their Antarctic service

Demographic portrait of the women

Endnotes

About the Author

This collection of interviews celebrates women's participation in national and private expeditions to Antarctica. Based on 130 interviews the book ranges across the first women scientists to visit Macquarie Island in 1959, to contemporary 'winterers'. Given the extent to which men have traditionally marked out the territory, physically, socially and psychologically, how do women experience an Antarctic stay, what attracts them to remote places, and how do they depict the stunning beauty of Antarctica itself. Who are they, how do they speak of their work and their experiences, and what are the effects on their lives of working in Antarctica?

Robin Burns has not only talked to women from many different backgrounds in order to answer such questions, but has also been a summer expeditioner herself to gain authentic experience of her subject. The result is a comprehensive account of women in Antarctic expeditions. She discovers the deep-seated longings of women to join these expe