Oh the trials and tribulations of having a penis

#21

If I do something considered masculine like say replace my alternator, and I have done this, people can just look at me and say, well he’s a guy. I almost feel pity for heterosexual men and women in that you get pigeonholed into only being allowed to do one gender’s activities.

I’m so glad my bf ignores that.I think it’s just that he’s so intimidating that no one would dare ask anything about his love for RHCP, Hedwig or being made up. I’m pans(closest definition at least) and I think because of that I could never find interest in anyone who thought their gender was significant to what they could and couldn’t do.

The scariest thing I’ve ever read was this article by a 19 year old girl; riddled with solecism.Powerfully creepy stuff.What is now excluded are the 30+ or so pictures of her drinking with other underage “princesses” from myspace.The even scarier thing is that my bf’s reason for running like hell out of the Los Altos suburbs as soon as he turned 18 is that essentially every girl he met in HS was groomed to be that way.

#22

That’s exactly why I make it a point to let my kids know that boys can do “girl” things and girls can do “boy” things and that some men love each other and some women love each other, also that some men would rather be women (just the other day my daughter and I watched Breakfast on Pluto together, she loved it as much as I do!) and some women would rather be men and each dress accordingly. My kids are 5 and 8. The way I see it, the younger they are taught tolerance and diversity, the better!

#23

Have you read this before?

#24

My jaw literally dropped.Like I said.I guess aside from not being exposed to the present, a lot of people never learned manners either.Seriously, [I]prison[/I]?Makes me wonder how does she figure out how to put her pants on in the morning.

I’ve been asked equally shocking things by -of all people- my bf’s mother.“You’re Mexican?So does that like…mean like …-Do you even [I]have[/I] a father?” And suddenly I understood why he said things like "I [B]refuse[/B] to believe I’m not adopted.

#25

So sweet of you to ‘take the time’ to help! Lots of folks, men or women, would wait, pay, and go.
“Not my problem” they’d rightfully think…so it was generous of you to take time! :hug:

#26

People looking at my online name figure I am a guy, woooo. I am the most female you have ever seen. Very feminine but just happen to have excellent math skills to the tune of a Master of Science in Math. I have got hit on by lots of women just because of my name. I didn’t think mathwitch was a good one and as I like science fiction and would like to have magical powers that a wizard was a good choice. My dearly departed DH thought my name was good choice and he used to laugh at the weird (yes I call them that) emails.
>> My other pet peeve is prejudice against crochet. I go to my LYS knitting group and take my knitting and crochet with me. I work on both while there. The knitters are always borrowing my hooks and other crochet stuff to fix or help with their knitting because I always have crochet equipment with me. Only one of the ladies acknowledges my skills and interest in crochet which I have been doing since I was 13. I will be 60 this year. There is another lady there who used to crochet and whenever she lies about her skill her eye starts to twitch. To her lace crochet is a collar she found in an Interweave magazine but it isn’t. There are many different kinds of lace crochet which are just as beautiful as the knitted version. Thanks for listening as prejudice against male knitters or crocheters really ticks me off!:grphug:
>> Have you ever noticed that the knitted stitch has similarities to the chain stitch?

#27

We have a local meet up that is designated for yarn workers. So we get a number of knitters, crocheters, and cross-stitchers. I will admit that its mostly knitters though. I don’t really have a prejudice against crocheters, I just know absolutely nothing, short of how to make a chain stitch and how to use the hook to fix my knitting.
So I think that I talk less to the crocheters because I don’t want to come off looking stupid.

In your honor though mathwizard, next meetup I will make the effort to sit next to one of the crocheters and learn more.

#28

I used to work with a woman who always stated that she hated generalizations, and gender roles. It was funny too cause she was a huge hypocrit too…but I digress…

Stereotypes immerge from places, and for every rule there is the exception. One would hope and think that in this day in age, these stereotypes would be shed. Ppl are certainly more open minded…but universal open mindedness is…well…a dream…

#29

Yep and there’s a ‘newish’ type of crochet called slip stitch crochet that’s kind of a hybrid of knit and crochet. Start with your regular chain and slip stitch in the back loop, sometimes the front loop depending on the stitch pattern… It’s done with a much larger hook than you would normal use for the yarn weight and goes faster than regular crocheting.

#30

hee-hee! So funny to hear that described as “new-ish”…it’s a very very old technique.

But yes, the knit stitch does have commonalities with a chair stitch…and I’ve used that similarity to do some “faux crochet” while knitting -

#31

Isn’t it fact that men actually were the first to knit? Wasn’t knitting taught primarily to men, and boys had knitting classes in school? When did it become so “woman” oriented anyway? I think it’s great that men knit and I love that we have so many men on this site.

#32

It was new to me, might have been around for a while, but I haven’t been doing anything crocheted (except hats) since the early 70s.

#33

IIRC knitting was mainly done by shepherd boys in the early middle dark ages before being taken up by ladies in the late dark ages. However, they only knew the knit stitch and the purl stitch was not “invented” until the 1800’s.

It’s been a while since I read a History of Knitting.

#34

Whoops, no, the earliest true purl stitch is on Spanish stockings in 1562. Moss/seed stitch showed up around that time, and Charles I (1600 - 1649) had a shirt with moss/seed stitch on it, which is in the Museum of London. It is called “purl”, because it was originally spelled “pearl”, as the bumps resembled pearls. I have copies of British knitting manuals from the early 1800s and they all spell it “pearl”. I’m not sure when the spelling changed.

#35

Again I cry “Trvvn” get yourself a blog! That story was beautifully written!

As the well educated mother of 3 daughters, I battle daily with gender sterotypes - those damn Disney Princesses! All I can do is raise them to respect their own abilities and those of others regardless of gender, race, disability or age.

Irishmam

#36

Oh…that sounds really neat! Where did you get them?

#37

Prejudice against crochet?

o_O How is that even [I]possible[/I]? And here I thought most people who learned one eventually picked up the other.

#38

Lol, I just read this entire thread. It gave me a good laugh and I admire you Trvvn for showing that anyone can knit, regardless of gender or age. :slight_smile:

#39

have they forgotten that knitting was done men years ago
and my dad sewed for 60 years of his life
goofy world
sylvia

#40

But we must also remember that knitting, Sewing, etc. for sale was normally a mans job because the women we just sitting around, tending a handful of children, and chickens and cows and pigs, and keeping the house and cooking, and maintaining the garden, and knitting and sewing for the family, and making candles and, and, and.

SO while the man was off working the women were just sitting at home doing nothing much, just house work :roflhard: :out: