when doing research on etsy, something i noticed straight away was the lack of things for and by men. men doesn't seem to craft as much as girls, and i wish they would. it's important because i have a boyfriend, two brothers, a dad and countless male friends - and i think they're missing out on a lot of things they could really enjoy and be good at.
i asked my boyfriend why he thinks so few men does crafts like knitting, and he said that it's just no fun. i don't think that's entirely true. men have fun doing a lot of creative things, as long as they can take pride in it and have use of the results.
pride.. what a strange thing pride is. sometimes it encourages people, often it holds people back.
i think a lot of men would feel humiliated by doing a womanly craft like knitting, as if it made them less of a man. some women are humiliated by doing such a womanly craft too, as if it's somehow inferior to manly stuff. but some feminists rightfully claims any women's work should be valued as equally important as digging or any other men's work. they knit to show their pride in the womanly heritage.
some men who DO knit, like knittingmen.com, tries to show people how knitting originally has been men's work(check their history section), and how there has been a great deal of men knitting throughout history. therefore, they have nothing to be ashamed of, because it's a manly thing to do.
well hey, whatever floats your boat. if that is the excuse they need, then so be it.
although wouldn't it be great to se women and men knitting, not because of a feministic embrace of lady-traditions or a manly claim of knitting as a masculine tradition - but because they don't give a shit about tradition!!!? and mainly because it's creative and fun and ohh sooo relaxing. and you don't have to worry about christmas shopping, everyone loves hand made presents.
knitting with balls is a book aimed at men who wants to knit. i think it's a good idea with books on knitting for men, not because they'd feel humiliated having to look in a book for girls, but because books aimed at men will have patterns that will actually fit and look cool on the male body.
check out men who knit, if you want a bit of inspiration. they promote and inspire knitting amongst men.
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