According to the Craft & Hobby Association, there is a year in the world’s timeline when just over a million men were scrapbooking. This may come as a surprise to those who expect scrapbooking and paper crafting to be laden with lace, pink trim, and other touches traditionally considered feminine. But, as with all other things, gender is not a ban on taking on a particular task and doing it in the way that suits your personal preferences.
While a firefighter is less likely to hang the latest calendar girl on the wall in an effort to fit in with the guys, she can certainly have a great career using her athleticism in whatever way best suits her passions. And that’s the difference: Just because some people of a particular gender, ethnic group, or socioeconomic status have traditionally mastered a particular activity, job, or hobby, doesn’t necessarily mean it should stay that way.
And, more importantly, the markers in that particular group, in this case lots of decorations and subtle colors, are not permanent for the task at hand. People who look down on men using scrapbooking as a particular hobby that meets their needs would sadly be on the side of history that denies a section of people from expanding themselves and the possibilities of all of us as collective group.
If the Williams sisters had stopped playing tennis simply because they opposed it, the minorities that came after would have to face a completely different world. Gender equality in the world of professional tennis would also be far behind what it is now.
If Tiger Woods had let his differences prevent him from excelling in the activity that would provide him with a career and lifetime satisfaction, the world would be a little or a lot less fulfilling for the many people who now explore sports for personal happiness and the sport. itself would not have advanced to the level it is now. And that is a very important point; getting more perspectives and more contributions towards an activity, career or hobby naturally provides an expansion of that activity, career or hobby. After excelling in adversity, Tiger developed a discipline mode and innovative strategies that would later become teaching strategies to improve the games of all kinds of people, including industry professionals. Excelling through the challenges creates expansive opportunities for all races and genders and, in this case, is responsible for making many golf games around the world better.
As a second example: after fighting racial inequality, the eldest of the Williams sisters also saw no reason why she should bow to gender inequality; She was the spearhead to improve salaries for women in tennis. Due to her adversity, the history books may leave her name not only as a champion, but also as the person responsible for increasing the salaries of women in professional tennis, causing the eradication of a very public form of gender inequality at the national level. international that was maintained by what we have assumed are the advanced societies in the world.
Although the achievements of a man who contributes to the world of scrapbooking may not have Guinness World Record status (although this is also possible), that does not mean that it will not change the life of that man and the activity itself. There are many benefits to artistic expression. And no art form requires gender identification through the use of colors or materials. There is a natural propensity for certain attributes due to the ways we identify with and are raised with the gender; we develop affinities for certain characteristics in large part because of our cultural perception of genders.
And we have fit in the world of scrapbooking in large part because of those associations, which in themselves are fine, but not required. As the strict nature of those subtle gender associations is being broken, more people find themselves able to express themselves in limitless ways that benefit and heal. If the world needs more of anything, it’s definitely people who are in touch with their emotions, their lessons, and their healing. And that’s not a gift that should be gender-exclusive.