A question for the ages: Feminine Carpentry

[MamaJunebug]

Just how do you do carpentry "in a feminine way"?

I'm a jackleg carpenter who's taken apart some furniture and rebuilt it in mytime, along with a few rudimentary window frames and such. AFAIK I did such in a feminine way since my basic gender features remained the same throughout the process.

But this young lovely (linked thanks to our darling Dominion Wackiness Troll) reminds us that such must be done femininely.

NB: The child is apparently under 18, so snark wtih restraint. If you can bear to read the balloony font (I couldn't, much past the "be a feminine carpenter" part).

waiting-rose.blogspot.com/2011/03/father-daughter-retreat-2011.html (copy and paste the foregoing into your browser bar, hit enter and the browser should automatically add what it takes to get you to the website)

[dcmhejbl62]

I hate, hate, HATE that "dancing in the rain" quote. Sometimes it IS all about waiting for the storm to pass. If you've still got the energy to get up and dance, it ain't been that long a storm.

[latraviata]

Just how do you do carpentry "in a feminine way"?

I'm a jackleg carpenter who's taken apart some furniture and rebuilt it in mytime, along with a few rudimentary window frames and such. AFAIK I did such in a feminine way since my basic gender features remained the same throughout the process.

But this young lovely (linked thanks to our darling Dominion Wackiness Troll) reminds us that such must be done femininely.

NB: The child is apparently under 18, so snark wtih restraint. If you can bear to read the balloony font (I couldn't, much past the "be a feminine carpenter" part).

waiting-rose.blogspot.com/2011/03/father-daughter-retreat-2011.html (copy and paste the foregoing into your browser bar, hit enter and the browser should automatically add what it takes to get you to the website)

Pink tools?

[Cassandra]

Pink tools?

A lot of stores sell basic pink tool kits. They are awesome, I have one and I love it. Stereotypical as this sounds, I would much rather use a hot pink screwdriver than a boring old black one.

[Black Aliss]

They are also easier to find when you set them down in the tall grass when you are working outside. And when they mysteriously migrate to His Headship's tool chest in the garage.

[LynnKaboom]

Pink tools?

The computer supplies store here sells pink screwdrivers (to open computers with). They're really cheap and flimsy though, although they are only $1, so if you need one quickly they'll do in a pinch.

[latraviata]

The computer supplies store here sells pink screwdrivers (to open computers with). They're really cheap and flimsy though, although they are only $1, so if you need one quickly they'll do in a pinch.

I didn't know that, I don't think we have pink tools in this part of the world.

Still the question remains what is carpentry in a feminine way?

Well, you know, how about tools with a tigerprint??

[formergothardite]

They are also easier to find when you set them down in the tall grass when you are working outside. And when they mysteriously migrate to His Headship's tool chest in the garage.

My husband bought pink tools just for this reason.

[kb2]

Wow, this girl not only requests prayer for Japan, but links to organizations to donate to, like with physical money.

That's a lot better than certain other bloggers.

ETA: I don't have pink tools, but I do have blue ones. They're like a girl-blue.

[bananacat]

The problem with pink tools is that are rarely just normal tools with a different color. They're usually made extremely low-quality, with the assumptions that the women using them will never do anything more than hang a small mirror for primping, and also that women are too stupid to notice that the product is junk. I've seen sets with silly miniature hammers that couldn't even pound in a thumbtack! I know some women like pink tools because others are less likely to "borrow" them and not return them, but it's so hard to find any good quality ones. I personally think pink is one of the most boring colors because, being female, I have been surrounded with it since birth and it's the color I've had the most exposure to.

Incidentally, if it all it takes is the color pink, you can go hunting in a feminine way or rob a bank in a feminine way if you buy pink guns. Yes, they really exist.

[Witsec6]

One way to avoid tool migration is to use colored electrical tape in a specific pattern on the handles of your tools. I started doing this when I was climbing a lot and carried on the tradition when I moved in to a communal house. Mine are yellow with a blue stripe in the middle.

[liltwinstar]

Well, I've put sheetrock on a ceiling while wearing a frumper and a headcovering...I guess that's doing construction in a feminine manner, never mind that I was terrified that I was going to trip over my skirt and fall off the ladder (and I'm a skirt girl! But there are times for pants. Ladders + sheetrock is a time for pants.)

Anyway, in reading that blog post, it just struck me how little the fundie movement values women. Apparently the Botkin girls spoke about how it's important to do your father's work - presumably because your mother's work is worthless. And that makes me mad.

With the knitting example - yes, ok, in these days knitting is a hobby. But, it used to be essential. Before Wal-Mart/industrialization, where did socks come from? From the needles of your mother, your grandma, your aunties, your sisters. They made the socks by lamplight after a full day of working to keep body and soul together. It wasn't "frivilous" work by any means. Same with most of the other "domestic arts" fundies pretend to love. Sewing, canning, weaving, shearing, herbs for healing, gardening, cooking, etc etc - all those things are essential for living. Yes, now we've "outsourced" a lot of those things, and improved a lot of them in the process (like medicine). We can buy canned goods, we don't have to weave cloth, etc. But all of that work is not useless frippery. Without the work of countless women over countless centuries, we (as humans) would have been naked, hungry, and sick. So to discount centuries of work by saying it's not as important as your blow-hard Daddy's vision? Totally short sighted. And arrogant to boot.

[gracegrace]

Was my niece doing carpentry in a feminine way when she built a pool (complete with water slide) for her Barbies in her grandfather's woodshop?

[Kaylee]

Nobody really knows, but they'll tell you when your not doing it femininely enough.

I think it boils down to doing the work your husband or father is to busy or lazy to do himself, but doing it in a way that his precious manly manhood is not threatened by it.

Fascinating Womanhood teaches women not to do "men's work" at all, and older editions used to advise purposely screwing up when you got stuck with it. Debi Pearl, OTOH, says that it's important to do as a way to help your husband but do do it femininely so you don't seem masculine or make him feel unneeded (her "parenting" advice is scary, but there were some things in her marriage book that helped me, especially compared with some of the other "biblical womanhood" advice I had gotten).

As far as the pink tool kits, I have 2, as well as a big purple box with various other tools (my husband buys crap tools then steals my good ones). One of them is actually decent quality, the other sucks - I keep the sucky one out because if he grabs something in a hurry it's no big deal if it gets lost or misplaced. I've done all sort of repairs and remodeling in a dress or skirt and headcovering, but some would fault me just because I was a woman and doing it myself. Seriously though, I have waited 3+ years for things to get done before saying screw it and jumping in. Right now, I'm installing laminate flooring throughout the house because the hubby claims not to know how to do it (I looked it up online and asked a few people for advice, it's really not that hard).