And Winner Is . . .
We had almost 400 entries to win Lauren Rennells's Retro Makeup! The prize goes to Jenni, who commented on March 14th at 3:56 am. (I hope you're in a really far away time zone, Jenni. Otherwise, you need to get more beauty sleep!) HRST Books will contact you to send the book. Thanks so much for the giveaway, Lauren and HRST!Men!
Secondly, are you a man? Are you a man who sews as a hobby? Or do you know someone of that persuasion? The Sewing Bee is casting right now and they're specifically looking for more menfolk.
Sewing and Gender Diversity
I think there's an interesting blog post to be written here. I mean, the reason they're having trouble finding men is that there aren't that many men who sew as a hobby! And if they do, there's a good chance they might not want the whole world to know. Sewing is a traditionally female activity, and therefore hasn't been given a lot of respect in the past. While I'd rather see women making up the majority of the contestants (and I'm sure they will), I also want some diversity represented.
(Also, it's fun to watch the women kick the men's butts on The Great British Sewing Bee. I just started season 2, and the men are so out of their league!)
What do you think? Are you keen to have men well-represented on The Sewing Bee--more so than they make up the sewing population in general? Or do you think the show's contestants should represent the sewing population as it is?
UK's GBSB rules that contestants have NEVER done any sewing professionally, even if it was 50+ years ago.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to gender, in my humble opinion, the best contestants should be the ones to get on TV, regardless of their gender. To admit a contestant on a 'token male' basis is a nonsense.
Exactly :)
DeleteQuite right Wool Bothy! And keep watching - not all of the men in GBSB are out of their league!!
ReplyDeleteAAAAHHH!! I never win anything, THANK YOU SO MUCH! I am so beyond excited to receive this!
ReplyDeleteHaha, it was most definitely not 3:56am here when I commented! :D
I think it's actually a good thing to include men, even if that means not exactly matching the actual demographic, for exactly the same reason I think it's important to make women more visible in traditionally male-dominated areas; the only way to break down gender barriers is to encourage people to cross the lines, and leading by example is a good way to do that. I don't want TGBSB (or the US version) to be male-dominated (because that would be extremely unrepresentative _and_ there are so many other spaces which are male-dominated, it's nice to have one that isn't!), but I think it's great to make it clear that sewing is not just for women, and undermine some of the stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this so much! Great points!
DeleteAwesome argument. Blowing the other arguments out of the water.
DeleteYes!!! My little son (3y) recently came home and said "pink is only for girls". It took us a couple of weeks to assure him he can paint in pink just as well as anybody else. Rolemodels are soo important! And yes, i want my daughter to use power tools as well...
DeleteI really enjoyed the mixed gender aspect of TGBSB, not least because the men participating in both series were such interesting characters. Maybe because it takes a very unconventional personality to become a home sewer when you are a man, where as women face fewer barriers to sewing as a hobby. I wonder if the talented (and interesting) Jimmy McBride of Intergalactic Transport http://intergalactictransport.blogspot.co.nz/ knows about this and would go for it? I don't think he's ever been a professional sewer.
ReplyDeleteI'm somewhat torn on the "token man" idea. On the one side, the competition should show a representation of the target population - so if 99% of home sewers are women, the show should be similar. It would be great to see more men in sewing, but in a TV competition if the men they can cast are obviously not as good as the women, it doesn't really help their cause.
ReplyDeleteI do thing the fact that less men sew is less to do with embarrassment (although I'm not one for classic gender roles, so I may be wrong), and more to do with the fact that women seem to have more fitting issues with RTW. You can find basic, trendy or professional menswear in most sizes, but womenswear has more fitting issues and a lot of plus-sized women can't buy from trendy shops, which pushes us to try making our own. My husband loves the clothes I've made him that fit well, but before I started learning all my fitting knowledge, he wasn't even aware that shirts were sitting off the shoulders etc, because noone really notices/cares.
Men also have fitting issues, but they are not a conscious about them. My boyfriend realizes this now an asked me to make him pants for that reason. He has other hobbies.
DeleteThis show is NOT meant to identify the best sewer in the USA, but rather just to set up a (completely contrived) contest among a small group people with fun personalities who sew proficiently.
ReplyDeleteThey're going to need good ratings to get picked up by a network, and while women will watch regardless of whether there are men in it or not (and I doubt there will be more than one per episode), men are only going to watch if there's a man in the show. Plus, everybody loves to watch straight men make fools of themselves performing traditionally female tasks, and gay men being fabulous and blowing everybody out of the water. It's reality TV after all.
Let's not forget that the art and craft of tailoring probably was mainly a man's occupation not that long ago, like almost all occupations, were the territory of men. I can actually think of several examples in my own living environment of professional male tailors today. So why would there not also be male home sewers? It's certainly not a woman-only environment, nor is it just suited to gay men!
ReplyDeleteActually, I used to work in a lab with a guy who wore the most interesting shirts. One day, he showed up in a purple floral western shirt. I asked him where he got it.
ReplyDeleteHe said that he made it. He's 6'5" and his mother was 5'11". She taught all her children how to sew so that they could have clothes that fit.
His mother also gave him a good quality basic sewing machine when he left home.
A guy that big, with a PhD in science, is plenty secure in his masculinity. And his clothes fit him perfectly.
I want to meet this guy! Western shirts are fantastic and I want to start a club for fans of making them!
DeleteThat is so fantastic.
DeleteI used to work in a fabric store and nearly everyone who walked in had some sort of fitting issues. I remember feeling sorry for the really tall people who had relatives sewing for them. They needed to learn for themselves and not remain stuck with two options. Impose on others, or pay a fortune at big and tall stores. Not nice, facing that.
Keep watching the 2nd series, Gertie.... ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm firmly in the "12 best people who sew, regardless of gender, being in the competition" camp. It should be about ability. Although I could be biased because it was my Dad who taught me the very basics of both sewing and knitting. :-) Jude.x
I like seeing few guys on the show- Stuart and the "pirate" (or period?) sewing guy were such characters and fun to watch on the first series.
ReplyDeleteBut I must ask you, Gerti, where have you been able to watch the current series of TGBSB? I've looked for it on YouTube, but have only found episode 2 of series 2. Thanks!
-Julie
You have to download this brilliant thing called Tunnel Bear. Costs $5 a month and it lets you watch directly on BBC UK.
DeleteHola unblocked does the same thing but it's free. When you get a working VPN you go on the BBC iplayer website.
DeleteThanks Gertie, you just made my day! It will be hard not to watch them all at once, but I'd really like to sit down and watch them with my non-sewing husband
DeleteHe's a steampunk. Most of my male friends who sew (I'm in the UK) are steampunks. One makes all his girlfriend's corsets. They just seem to have an interest in making things and understanding how things work, whether that's a circuit board or a sewing pattern.
DeleteWhile having more men interested in sewing could be cool, I'm actually quite fine having it be female-dominated. It seems like every time guys really get into something that was previously women's, they totally co-opt it and ruin it. Like My Little Pony. Bronies have completely taken it over and made a mess of things. More guys in sewing would be nice, but I'm totally for having women still run things. It feels like one of the few realms we have left that really belongs to *us*. Sewing feels like a safe space to me in a way that no other area of interest does.
ReplyDeleteWell, considering that much of the RTW market is run by men and the clothes are made for the bodies of men (all the models have no boobs or hips), they've already ruined it
DeleteI, too, want to know where you are watching season 2
ReplyDeleteSee my comment above! You need to go to tunnelbear.com
DeleteI'd just like to give my male who sews prospective on this matter. Firstly, having sewn for years (as well as knitting, crocheting and screen printing) I'd be a tad grumpy if I were referred to as merely a token...we men can be selected on merit too! That came off a bit more snarky than I had intended but I stand by my point...I must concur (however much it may damage my previous argument) that the women have been the strongest in GBSB...so far...mwahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteI know Mr Tiny does some great clothes for his sister Mary. I will pass this along here is his blog. http://thewackytacky.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteI am married to a man who bested me in a sewing contest...and I taught him how to sew! I think more men are realizing that sewing can be a satisfying hobby, as well as a useful skill!
ReplyDeleteI like watching the men. They are funny. Especially watching them make leggings and velvet pants. Hilarious. I've followed a few male sewing bloggers in the US (not sure if they are from the NY state area) who would be great at this. We should start nagging Peter to apply.
ReplyDeleteWhile I wonder why the producers haven't found some genius fashion school kid to fill that token male position, the diversity of assignments on the show may be somewhat daunting to most amateur men who sew. Many guys I know who sew are very specialized, and this show needs a 'soup to nuts' kind of range. The other glitch is the amateur requirement which is a barrier for many excellent candidates (I would love to see a costume shop guy take on this show!). I am guessing that many non-professionals (male or female) haven't experienced the training or range of projects this show seems to need, while sewing on their own. It'll be interesting to see who they cast!
ReplyDeleteI admittedly try to sneak sewing into my husband's activities sometimes, because he says he never wants to do it, but when I sew he always hovers over me with great interest. I tried to make him more confident and told him I needed help for a project because I needed to put a shirt on to make sure I got something sewn right, and I couldn't sew the shirt myself with it on, so I needed him to make the stitches for me. I didn't actually do it in the end, but it was enough to get him to pick up a needle and practice the hand sewing technique I'd taught him!
ReplyDeleteI'm a guy who loves sewing; I've been sewing since I was about 11 and I still sew almost every day. I doubt that I would be eligible for this show as I went to fashion school and have done professional work in the past (although now only a passionate hobbyist). I'm also not a fast sewer by any means; slow, meticulous and a perfectionist which makes for really good clothes, but probably not-so-good television.
ReplyDelete