Comments on: Take that, Feminist bitchez!

By: Helen

Helen — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:49:35 +0000

Yay Murray! Yes we have many similar situations in our household. I used to be a whiz bike mechanic (these days, sadly, not so much.) I do basic (Ah said, basic) car maintenance. Boychild and his tough mate used to lerve the pink Barbie knitting machine at After School Care and would produce metres and metres of mad knitted stuff (I told them they were actually thneeds as in The Lorax.) And SO has his own T shirt business now and he has taken over my old sewing machine to do the labels… etcetera etcetera. We have a strange mixture of skillz.

By: murray

murray — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 06:29:35 +0000

All this makes me feel very virtuous indeed. I have 2 sons and a daughter and she spent similar time with me as the boys in the shed learning about using ring spanners pliars etc. and now my grand daughter is doing the same when at my house. On the other hand my mother had me sewing on a treadle machine saying just because you are a boy it doesn’t mean you can be useless in looking after yourself.

By: Bernice

Bernice — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 09:46:07 +0000

As per tigtog, the passing on of skills is still very gender specific. I watch male friends with my 10yo son patiently explaining the hows & whys with much appreciation but knowing full well if he was a she, it wouldn’t happen. Girlz asking technical questions does not go down well – at any age. Even little old ladies like me still inspire horrified silences in a workshop if I dare to mutter something audible about… anything technical. (Have long since given up pointing out that Machine A is about to blow up, seize up or fuck up – I just leave the building in safety)

By: Helen

Helen — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 00:39:43 +0000

sometimes managing friendships means having people around whom you simply put all that stuff in a box. It’s a bit disappointing, but can also be a welcome break.

That sums it up very nicely – and I’m doing it all the time.

My workmates don’t even know I blog, and I never have overtly feminist discussions with family and friends. I think that incident demonstrates there’s still very little tolerance in Oz society for it. There was also the element of feeling beholden (providing the transport). I wish, though, I was as good an explainer as some of the feminist bloggers I read.

Kate – “Esprit d’escalier”!?

By: kate

kate — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 09:07:30 +0000

Did you suggest youth radio was entirely appropriate considering how juvenile he was sounding?

Sadly such comebacks never occur to me in the moment…

By: tigtog

tigtog — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 07:10:20 +0000

But there’s also a place for teaching people so they’re independent in future – like the men were taught, when young, by other men.

Exactly. What a petty reaction, a classic backlash, as you called it.

I’m almost hoping that the universal reaction of TripleJ listeners to their music is “She’s fantastic! I wish she had a better muso to work with!”.

By: armagnac esq

armagnac esq — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 03:22:59 +0000

God I hope he doesn’t sell any records. I like my musos, especially if they’re pitching at JJJ, a little reconstructed.

I understand the awkwardness- sometimes managing friendships means having people around whom you simply put all that stuff in a box. It’s a bit disappointing, but can also be a welcome break.