Here's one for the girls

[meydenhart]

Just done an article for a local Arts & Crafts site entitled "Woodworking - not just a guy thing anymore" If you're interested, go here

[Neal Moore]

Well Sue....I'm not a girl but I read your article. All I can say is great work and... YOU GO GIRL!!!! BTW, I loved your "drinking cat" portrait..simply beautiful!!

[meydenhart]

...for the girls

Thanks Neal! Obviously you are a REAL man
When I was asked to do an article on the subject, I thought "this is a sticky one" - I feel strongly and express myself freely about matters that concern women, but I also believe in getting along in harmony with all my fellow human beings , so I tried to stay with the facts without being too disapproving (of other human beings )

[Mackem]

great article sue, i have no problem with women in woodworking in fact i have learned a vast amount of things from the ladies who contribute to the net, and long may it continue

kevin

[PuzzledMoose]

Interesting that it's only guys who have responded to Sue's post so far - yup I ready it too and wouldn't argue with any of it - maybe the women are all too busy woodworking to read it ....

[Cutting Cathy]

Good point Ian!!!

Cathy

btw, Very good article Sue!!

[meydenhart]

...for the girls

Thanks guys...and Cathy

[Gill]

Yup, I agree it's a good article.

Gill

[meydenhart]

I tried to say "Ta Gill" but it wouldn't accept it (message too short).
So: thanks Gill

[CanadianScroller]

That is a great article Sue.
I have to admit that my daughter is a much better woodworker than my sons are.
I really think that scrolling is a cross over activity that is suited for people of all genders....to be politically correct
I am not sure if all the barriers between us will ever come down but I hope people can see and encourage art and talent where ever it lies.

We need more articles like yours to open eyes and minds.

Good work.

[meydenhart]

Thanks Carl,

I agree that scroll sawing is a cross-over activity suited to people of all genders. The dilemma (and the essence of the article) is this: at some stage you are going to develop the need or necessity to make something bigger - in my case a friend asked me to make her a coffee table - and suddenly you are no longer viewed as the girl who makes "pretty little things" on a saw that works "just like a sewing machine". Because now you are not just buying wood and blades, you are perusing table saws and routers and the home depot guy suggests that "maybe you should hire someone to do this job for you". So with every new tool you acquire and with each male dominated conversation you participate in regarding "woodworking" (as opposed to just scrolling), you face the barrier all over again. Very frustrating!

End of rant I just needed to make the point that it's not just about being accepted as a scroller, but as a woodworker.

[Gill]

I know exactly how you feel, Sue, and whilst I can praise your article for expressing your feelings about the gender divide, as I was reading it I felt you had much more to say. In some ways, it's a pity you didn't say it! However, I understand that you can only develop your thoughts so far in an article and carry your readership with you. Perhaps the next article might be a bit more edgy .

I get a feeling I irritate some woodworkers over on a general forum because I go into detail over the scrolled projects I produce. This culminated a couple of years ago in a challenge to make a proper woodwork project. So I made a table out of maple with tapered legs and I didn't go into any details about how it was constructed. I didn't feel the need to - the woodwork was so much simpler than shaping little bits of MDF! It was nothing like as fulfilling, though. Yet I seemed to earn new respect from the male-dominated forum, as if I'd completed a coming-of-age ritual. There's something different about the way that male and female woodworkers respect other woodworkers; it's as if you have to earn respect from men whereas women will give you it freely.

Gill

[Jediscroller]

Well written article Sue and an interesting topic. I've never understood why the need for specific women in woodworking groups, magazines, etc. Your article shed some light on that for me. I just figured that you were a woodworker first, gender second.
At the risk of sounding dumb, I had never thought about a gender divide in woodworking. From my first shop class until present, there always seemed to be both genders present. Most of the carpentry crews I know have men and women on them, my niece is taking woodworking class (as did girls when I was growing up). Even the 2 main lumberyards I go to seem to have more women working there than men.

[uk scroller]

Gill,Sue & all other GIRLS
GIRLS ,your problem, is that you are" different",and apparently you are not suposed to be "different" .it confuses people, even more so if, like you girls ,you are good at it!!
a good friend of mine ,a male, motor mechanic, goes home from work and then sits down at "HIS" sewing machine to make curtains and do alterations .!!!!!
i am conciderd "strange/ different " because i don't have a t v,!!!
but i say, i have a scrollsaw , why would i need a tv ?
ignore " them" and enjoy yourself--------- "do like u wana do "-------
when, back in the 1980's ,i taught motorcycling ,the girls were allways quicker to learn and often better at it !!
- keek up the good work, and keep being "DIFFERENT"
--Frank---

[meydenhart]

...for the girls

Gill, I used to be VERY outspoken about gender issues (and a few others close to my heart), to the point where it landed me in hot water at times. I guess I've mellowed a bit with age and no longer feel I have to prove myself to others. But sometimes one needs to stand up and represent those who do not have the nerve to do so for themselves.

Kevin, remember this article is local, South Africa is a far cry from the US and Canada in this regard. We may have just legalised same-sex marriages, but in some other areas it is still like living in the dark ages.

...and Frank, yes it is about being different, which will always cause eyebrows to raise in any society, anywhere in the world. Yet it goes much deeper than that and it has a lot to do with deep-seated beliefs and conservative thinking. As broad minded and tolerant as our nation is supposed to be, after years of riding a motorcycle for pleasure, I still create a ruckus when I park and remove my helmet! Except, oddly, nowadays it is the women that look on with distaste and the men that come closer to admire the bike and start a conversation

Oh well, you just can't please everybody, so my motto is "as long as you don't hurt anyone, do what makes yourself happy"