embracing the girly arts

I have begun learning to knit. MP taught me last night, and now I have two and a half feet of bright pink scarf, only a little raggedy.

Oh yes...I am turning into that single woman, with a cat, who knits. Next I'll be wearing glasses that come to points at the corners, with big thick black rims, and flannel nightgowns with high collars.

But really, knitting is awesome. MP was reading me the intro of Stitch 'n' Bitch as I struggled with purling and knitting and not dropping stitches, and the woman has incredible points. Particularly how, as I've been ranting for some time, the idea of women's lib has devolved into turning women into men, and losing all the feminine arts that make life lovely and comfortable. And furthermore, men have not been encouraged to take up the tasks traditionally done by women. So what we have is an overmasculinized society, where everything is prefabricated and food comes ready to pop in the microwave so everyone can spend grueling hours focusing on their careers, going to the gym, and going to bed.

What's with that? All it's saying, in the end, is that "men's" skills are still better than "women's" skills. And there have been too many centuries of that same old attitude. This era is no different. Instead of men's and women's traditional roles becoming fluid and ambisexual -- where a man and a woman alike can have a career and play soccer and cook and sew, the tasks of cooking, cleaning, making clothing, and raising children have been given almost entirely over to factories and take-out services.

Boo hiss. I like the new trend that defies this, and I know a goodly number of men who are experts in the kitchen. MP says that men in Ashville knit all the time, and in public. One of my favorite men taught his wife to crochet (I think I have that right). Now that's progress.

And within the next few weeks I'm going to learn to shoot. I'll be the Gunslinger-Who-Knits.

Maybe I'll knit my own holster.