Thursday, May 11, 2006

Gender studies, part II

I just remembered that I never posted about the "stamping party" I attended in my research about humans and gender identity.

It was out in the middle of no where - in a church hall. Other than the leader, there were only a mother and daughter duo there (besides the little band of humans I attended with). The leader had a fairly simple activity for us to put together. She had all of the bits and pieces prepared and very simple instructions for accomplishing the task. I think part of the appeal is that you end up making something that actually looks pretty good without having to really have any talent or creativity. I think the "good" feelings you get from following the very simple demonstration/instructions makes you want to repeat the experience and thus purchase the materials to recreate it in your own time.

There was some silliness, but mostly, the leader kept us on task. She also had cookies for after we finished our projects. I think this is sort of a grown up version of boy/girl scouting.

Although the presentation was more polished than the tupperware party, the aura of "party" wasn't there. I don't know if it were the small group, the fact that no one knew each other - other than the mother and daughter, or the church setting.

I also don't understand why it is exclusively a female activity. I know that there are human males who cook, and sew, and decorate, and other "feminine" type activities. Very curious.

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