Monday, November 19, 2007

OMG! I've Been, Like, Totally Feminised!

...and I liked it!

You might find it funny, or it might make your head explode, but I'd be seriously very surprised if you agree that knitting is part of the plot to feminize [sic] the men of America!

The article is primarily all opinion, and that's fine as she's entitled, but she does kick off with a factual error when she she says that less and less women are knitting today. The demographic has changed from what it was 10 or 20 years ago, but the proliferation of yarn stores, books on knitting, stitch 'n' bitch groups, new yarn companies and types of yarn, websites and blogs about knitting shows that knitting in general has had a HUGE upswing in the past 5-10 years.

The percentage of men who knit is still small, even if it has increased. Case in point, pick up any knitting magazine and see how many patterns there are for men's knitwear. One, two maybe, in a magazine full of patterns for women. If men were driving the knitting boom then manufacturers and publishers would be responding with more patterns aimed at men. Do a Google search for knitting blogs or knitting websites, and you'll find some by men but the VAST majority are published by women.

The interesting thing is not that men are knitting, but it's a sign that knitting in general is more popular. Teenage girls, men, boys, young women, all sorts of demographic groups that might have once seen knitting as an old fashioned dowdy craft, have seen the cool stuff that can be made and the beautiful yarns that are out there.

Except Debbie maybe, she seems to have missed the trend and missed the point.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Silly cow!

M-H said...

What a dumb broad. Ignorant and outspoken: always an attractive combination. Not.

Michael said...

But that was a joke, right?

Cecilia said...

Sadly, I don't think it's a joke. I made the mistake of reading some of her other entries. And some of the comments. And now I feel slightly un-clean.

Thombeau said...

I agree with Kerry: Silly cow!

The Other Andrew said...

It's so bizzare that it's kind of hard to tell if it's a joke or not. Not only that, but the factual errors are such whoppers that it seems like she doesn't understand how to operate The Internets, certianly not well enough to consult The Google either. I mean, there's got to be less than 5 minutes of research there, just long enough to find (or be given I guess) a jpeg of the poor book she rips into.

Thombeau said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Thombeau said...

"The feminisation of men" is a phrase Bill Maher uses a lot, usually out of fear. It is based on sociologically imposed gender roles. Balancing the masculine/feminine is a good and necessary thing. It is the unbalance of the previous millenium that have made the world we live in, and obviously that situation must be changed. Knitting can help.

jason said...

Please.
How ridiculous.

on a related note, what's wrong with a little "feminization" anyway?

The Other Andrew said...

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

(PS. Thombeau, I like the new avatar! That's a nice pic of you.)

Thombeau said...

Thanks, sweetie-pie! I've got a Mona Lisa smile. And Bette Davis eyes!

yani said...

Even more offensive and just plain stupid are the people who comment on her stuff...

One gem in particular...

"Yes, I'd much rather my son be taught how to trap and kill rattlesnakes, but, whatever."

Riiiiiiight... you'd rather have you child kill and destroy than create... way to go...

Plus Debbie needs a neck to go with all that "well thought out" opinion of hers...

Mindy said...

Debbie is just down on knitting because she wasn't very good at it. Obviously the amazing things some men are knitting (like TOA) really annoy her because she can't do it.

And as a mum, I wouldn't give a rats if my son wanted to knit, ice skate and be a flight attendant. Do you know how cheap flights are for family members? It's a perk worth having!

The Other Andrew said...

Exactly mindy, not to mention front row seats at The Icescapades, wearing your very own handknit.

Anonymous said...

If she's not joking, she's a friggin' moron! I've never heard such crap in my life. Oh no, do we have another Ann Coulter on our hands???

freakgirl said...

I don't know if you know who Debbie Schlussel (?) is, but I can assure you she's a certified nutcase.

So she's probably not joking.

The Other Andrew said...

Yeah, I figured she was possibly a nutjob. Or maybe somebody using the extreme right wing viewpoint to make a media profile for themselves. For her sake, I hope it's the latter.