Edited Again and A. Nonymous and Don't Make Me Out to be a Dixie Chick

As I have found to be the case the List Moms edited me cutting out half my message. One person did respond with an email and invitation to their group in Texas. As she suggested that is a heck of a commute for someone from Pittsburgh. I will keep it in mind if I am ever down in Texas. I don't travel as much as I once did. Still, you never know.

I had two people leave anonymous and very disparaging comments on the blog. One was so offensive that I will not repeat what it said. They both suggested that I should get over breast feeding. I myself was breast fed at one time. So I have no objections to the practice.

There are many very healthy and important functions of the body that we do not do in public. And before you suggest that I am comparing breast feeding to flatulence or worse your mind went there not mine.

If we cannot be honest about making a group comfortable for both genders than we are not going to have men joining the ranks of knitters. Or if it does become popular in some circles of men they will exclude women.

On a personal level I could care less what the conversation is about, for the most part. I also do not care if children are being fed. I am not the bashful sort. But if you want to attack new people to something you must get them while they are young. And you will not be able to count on their level of maturity.

Also not to put too fine a point on the subject there are some women that no longer feel the need to cover up while feeding their babies. This even makes some women uncomfortable. And before you send me a rude message stating your position please remember the point of the conversation.

I understand that suggesting that breast feeding may make some people uncomfortable is like the Dixie Chicks attacking the President when their fan base is the NASCAR set. But many men are worried about girly thing infiltrating their lives. I like to call these men pansies, but I digress. How many of those who attacked the Dixie Chick really cared if what they said was relevant or not? Or even cared if they had the right to say it?

We are trying to make men comfortable with knitting not defend Breast Feeding. And perhaps the men who cannot stand to sit near a woman while breast feeding should grow up. That does not change the fact that if they have come out of the knitting closest they can go back in.

Also in the unclaimed comments was one about the food I suggested. I am sorry but that is way out of line. You can attack my possition on partial nudity by don't you dare say anything is wrong with Spam and Ranch Dressing. I will defend my right to kill myself with high fat foods to the grave. Carrot Sticks and whole grains is crazy talk.

They told me that I should be encouraging healthy food alternatives. This person also called me a Jerk so I am not going to post their comment. Knitting is supposed to be fun. Very few people really need to do it in the United States. If you are going to go and relax somewhere you should be allowed to do it with a cup of tea and some biscuits {Alright that is my time in Her Majesty's Service talking}. In the case of American men would it kill you to have a pizza? On behalf of all the men out there I will compromise on the anchovies. You will just need napkins.

Bellow is the pleasant email that I received about the post. Enjoy, I did.

Sounds like fun. And don't count baseball out. I am sure they would have said knitting a dying art at one time. The main point is that if your group knitts as an activity to do while complaining about Husbands. That generally scares off men. Not that we don't complain. Although I imagine most men don't complain about their husbands, but I digress.

Generally if a group is welcoming and primarily about knitting it will atttract a couple men. Men do need to get over the macho thing. Many Peruvian Men knit for the lively hood. And men should recall that once upon a time virtually all professional knitting was done by men.

Unfortunately it does not look like most men are ready to make that leap. Someday macho will be defined by individuality and not grunting and smashins things.

By the way you can see the entire entry on my blog. The lists moms edit me.

Peggy wrote:

Would you settle for basketball and football instead of baseball (a dying
sport unfortunately)??

My Saturday knitting group talks sports (and NOT ice skating or ice
dancing). We also talk politics, family, movies, music, television shows,
and anything else in the news. We meet at a Seattle's Best Coffeehouse --
they sell snacks that "aren't good for you" and excellent coffee -- AND we
all have stashes that are the envy of most yarn shops! One is a computer
tech, one a professor of French, one a librarian, one an engineer
specializing in bridges for the state highway dept. and one a criminal
defense attorney. I'm the only one with kids -- and they are grown and gone.
I DO have a grandchild and occasionally tell the group something funny my
DGD did -- or show a new picture. But that's about it. The professor knits
mostly modular things, the attorney makes hats and scarves to sell to her
cohorts at the courthouse, the engineer does a little of everything, the
computer tech sometimes crochets -- and I (the librarian) either knit lace
or things for that DGD.

Shame you aren't in Austin!

Peg in Austin

> If you want to attract men to your knitting group there are several
> things you can do.
>
> Snacks that are bad for you.
>
> The occasional Baseball conversation.
>
> And lost of cool knitting stuff.
>
> If the group is about knitting than a couple guys will show up
> eventually. The bottom line is that men are going to be a small
> minority in knitting circles. No one likes to be outside their
> comfort zone. In another couple decades if knitting stay as popular
> as it is now then there will be droves of male knitters.
>
> Zeeppo
>
> The Blog http://zeeppoville.blogspot.com/
>
>
>
>

Be safe out there and keep you stick on the ice.