>>>For a long time it has been very difficult for a girl to express a wish to do anything feminine. It has been OK if girls want to fly down mountain cliffs at 60 miles an hour on a bicycle, but absolutely not OK if they want to learn to crochet.<<<
The fortunate flip side of this is that boys are learning lace, at least in the US. I've heard from several school-teachers who brought in lace as an after-school activity for the kids, and they've got a surprising number of boys joining in. Even Junior High kids (early teens), who are so terribly concerned with what's cool, are taking up lace! And when I demonstrate, I get almost as many boys trying it as girls. But almost no men. :( I agree with Adele, things (especially spare time activities) fluctuate in popularity. Quilting is really big these days. However, I seem to hear fewer comments about, "oh, that's a dying art, you never see anybody doing it" when I'm demonstrating lacemaking, so more people may be aware of it. But I still get so many "I could never do that!" and "That must be so tedious!" comments that I don't expect the subject to ever by as common as knitting or quilting. Robin P. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
