To sew or not to sew? This doesn't appear to be the question. Most of my comments about starting a sewing class were very positive, with some just "liking" the statement, and others telling me to take pictures of anything cool that we sew in the class. Granted, those that thought I was serious don't know me at all, or at least haven't been around me for a long time to remember what I'm like. There were two comments from people who know me real well, my cousin, and a former roommate. The cousin was the only person who responded with a gender coded comment, acting very surprised that I was starting a class, and sort of making fun of me. My former roommate simply asked if that's what happens to guys when they become old fuddy duddy married people. I think this was the most interesting comment I received and the one I'd like to analyze the most. I believe that if I was still single, my post would have elicited a lot more jokes and ridicule from friends. I really feel most would find conducting a sewing class to be a very feminine thing to do. At least that's what I've been socialized to think. However, my friend's comment goes to show that gender codes can change with different life circumstances. Being married now, most people think I've already established my heterosexual ways, so don't really care to make fun of me for starting a sewing class. Also, most people know my wife really does sew, so they may have thought I was just doing this with her. Either way, this little experiment demonstrated that most people were okay with a married man holding a sewing class, but some still embraced the common gender codes.
5 comments:
Sewing is cool. It's time we face the facts.
I think it's interesting that people were more chill with it because you are married. It's funny how people's perceptions flavor a lot of what they do, but we're often not aware of where our perceptions come from or what is fueling them
your image is hilarious. do you really think your friends "liked" your statement?
I agree that people will judge differently based on status in life. Clearly people are not doubting your gender choice when you are married, so they probably think it's something to do with your wife.
I never considered the different views people would have based on whether a man was single or married. In my mind it would not seem strange that a man would enjoy sewing if that was something his wife liked to do.
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