Stuff like this makes me uncomfortable and feeling like I should Make A Contribution. Y'know, being all equipped with lady bits an' all.
But honestly, I don't feel qualified. I don't understand what the hell goes through most women's heads, never mind men's. To my mind, people are just people; take each one as he, she, or it comes.
As woodworkers, or would-be woodworkers, we're all infected with that crazy notion to make wood do our bidding despite what it has to say about the matter. That should unite us against a common, and splintery, foe. Quite frankly, nothing else matters a damn.
Having said that, I could do with 90% fewer opinionated old men from the north of England. But that means I'd have to stop listening to Test Match Special too, so I guess I have to take the unbearably tedious with the smooth....
*Not really.
I don't see her ranting from a feminist position. It seems to be a reaction to "hand tool purism", an evangelical phenomenon we have going on across the pond.
ReplyDeleteWell Megan claimed she was - mind you, it was a lousy attempt at a rant, I thought. But mainly I just didn't change my post title having deleted what turned into my own small rant. Turns out I'm rather more bitter about these things than I'd realised...
DeleteI don't agree with Paul's assertion that if you use machines you're not working wood. To each his own. Myself, I'm on a hand tool only journey and would like to rid myself of my machines because I build one off projects and I don't really need them. If I was doing this for a living, I wouldn't be using only hand tools for sure.
ReplyDeletePaul's assertion is that you're not doing craft if you're using machines (and it's important to distinguish between machines, which do the work without a person, and tools, which people use to do work).
DeleteThe point of craft being that the makers' input is important. Unlike, say, industrial design where you do want the makers' hand visible in your finished product.
Maybe design, machining and assembly is valid - Jonathan Ive gets plenty enough kudos. But it's not wood-craft - it's something else.
Tish! I meant to type 'Unlike say, industrial design where you DON'T want the makers' hand visible in your finished product.
DeleteAs soon as I saw the word 'Sellers' it provides me with an immediate opportunity to 'switch off' or get the zapper and change to another channel. Preferably zap him instead! If it's any consolation Al, the only Sellers that was ever worth listening to was the Peter variety. This one ain't.
ReplyDelete